


Beautiful Strangers

by HopeSilverheart



Series: Loving Em at 2AM [67]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV), Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: All fluff very little plot, Alternate Universe - Human, BAMF Alec Lightwood, Bachelorette Party, Boys In Love, Derek Hale & Magnus Bane & Lorenzo Rey are brothers, Derek Hale is a Softie, Established Lydia Martin/Maia Roberts, F/F, FBI Agent Alec Lightwood, FBI Agent Andrew Underhill, FBI Agent Stiles Stilinski, Family Fluff, First Dates, First Kisses, Fluff, Fools in Love, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Getting Together, Light Angst, M/M, Professor Magnus Bane, Real Estate Agent Lorenzo Rey, Stiles Stilinski Is Bad at Feelings, Strangers to Lovers, Teacher Derek Hale, Vacation, Weddings, first meets
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-20
Updated: 2020-08-15
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:07:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 77,175
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25391374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HopeSilverheart/pseuds/HopeSilverheart
Summary: “What do you mean, a one month leave?” He asked confusedly, glancing at his partners who were standing on either side of him, looking just as gobsmacked as him. “Sir, did we do something wrong? We know we could have handled the Morgenstern case slightly faster and done a little bit better but surely, we don’t need to be sent away for a whole month, do we?”“Lightwood, this isn’t a punishment. This is a reward. Your team did a good job this month, and we’ve decided to grant all senior agents on your case on a month-long vacation. You even get to choose your destination.”Or: Alec, Stiles, and Andrew are forced to stop working and have fun for once, and it turns out love is a lot easier to find when they're not too busy chasing after the bad guys. All it takes for them to accept their fate is a charming house and three even more charming brothers.
Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Lorenzo Rey/Andrew Underhill, Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, Maia Roberts/Lydia Martin, Stiles Stilinski & Alec Lightwood
Series: Loving Em at 2AM [67]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1764400
Comments: 40
Kudos: 151





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thatnerdemryn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatnerdemryn/gifts).



> This fic is dedicated to Em, as a thank you for being one of the most wonderful people in my life, for constantly giving me the strength to keep on writing, and for introducing me to an amazing show I would never have watched on my own. I love you to pieces, and I hope you enjoy this <3

Alec blinked rapidly, his brows furrowed as he tried to understand what his boss was telling him.

“What do you mean, a one month leave?” He asked confusedly, glancing at his partners who were standing on either side of him, looking just as gobsmacked as him. “Sir, did we do something wrong? We know we could have handled the Morgenstern case slightly faster and done a little bit better but surely, we don’t need to be sent away for a whole month, do we?”

“Lightwood, this isn’t a punishment. This is a reward. Your team did a good job this month, and we’ve decided to grant all senior agents on your case on a month-long vacation. You even get to choose your destination.” Luke Garroway – their special agent in charge – sounded happy to be giving them such ‘good’ news, but Alec still wasn’t convinced this wasn’t some form of sanction for how long it had taken them to catch Valentine Morgenstern.

“Sir, are you sure?” Andrew asked from his spot next to Alec. The man had only been promoted to Senior agent five months earlier, and it showed in how nervous he was around Luke. “We’d be more than happy to stay around and help if you need us, or have any new missions, or…”

“Woah, woah! Are you guys insane?” As one, Andrew and Alec turned to look at Stiles, who was staring at them as though they truly _were_ crazy. “I’m sorry, but our boss just offered us a month of holidays to the destination of our choice, and you’re worried about how it’ll look on your record? Alec, you’ve been here as long as I have, and you haven’t taken a single vacation, _ever_. And Andrew, you work so hard I’m sometimes worried you’re going to pass out at any given moment. Come on, let’s live a little! Travel to Hawaii, laze around on the beach, forget about all the work waiting for us back here! Doesn’t that sound like a great time?”

“Not really, no,” Alec grimaced, shooting a betrayed look at Andrew when the man tilted his head towards Stiles, clearly considering what their partner was saying. “Oh come on, no one is sent away just because they did a good job, they’re sent away because they screwed up!”

“Or because their boss is also their step-father and knows how much you need this time off,” Luke cut in, raising an eyebrow in Alec’s direction when he opened his mouth to speak again. “Alec, you’re my best agent on the field, and I refuse to see you burn out because you’re too stubborn to go on a fully-funded vacation. Besides, this isn’t negotiable. The three of you are on leave starting tomorrow, and you have 48 hours to choose a location before I send you to Greenland.”

With one last pat to Alec’s shoulder and a nod towards Andrew and Stiles, Luke was walking out of the room, humming distractedly. God, Alec couldn’t believe they were being forced into this just because his mother had chosen to marry someone who actually cared about his wellbeing. Honestly, he might have preferred dealing with his father, since _he_ wouldn’t have made him leave. In fact, he would have probably commended him for taking on extra duties.

Instead, he was going to be sent to-

“Greenland?” Stiles’ eyes widened in alarm, his gaze lingering on the spot Luke had just vacated. “He’s not actually serious, right? We’re not going to get sent to Greenland if we don’t agree on a destination, are we? Because I have a feeling our ideas of a good time are going to be vastly different, and I really don’t want to end up in the middle of nowhere.”

“He’s not going to send us to Greenland,” Alec rolled his eyes, then paused and reconsidered his words. “Well, probably not. I mean, Luke is nothing if not unpredictable. I still can’t believe he’s basically kicking us out of our jobs just because he’s concerned about me or my health or whatever.”

“I think it’s rather sweet,” Andrew said, biting down on his bottom lip amusedly when Alec shot him a dark look. “I’m serious. Look, not everyone gets to have a great father figure in their lives who’s willing to keep an eye on their kids, let alone their _step-_ kids. I’m sure he means well. Besides, a vacation can’t hurt, can it?”

“It definitely can’t,” Stiles piped up. “I haven’t taken time off in a year, or at least not outside of that one time I was sick for a week and couldn’t get out of bed, so this is going to be epic! Honestly, the Morgenstern case was already epic because of all the investigating and interventions we got to do, but this just makes it even better. Did you hear what Luke said? Fully-funded! That means no expenses on our end! We could stay in a five-star hotel in Bali and the bureau wouldn’t be able to say anything! God, the possibilities are endless.”

Alec’s lips curled upwards before he could stop them. A part of him still wished he didn’t have to leave his work behind at all, but another part of him longed for an entire month spent with his best friend, travelling somewhere and forgetting about his struggles. He wasn’t great at lazing around, but a single month couldn’t be too bad, right?

“You’ve got that look on your face,” Andrew smirked, high-fiving Stiles victoriously. “The one that tells me you’ve made up your mind already. So… Does that mean you’ll help us come up with the perfect destination? Because I’m personally not the biggest fan of the beach, so Hawaii and Bali wouldn’t be my top picks.”

“You don’t- _Andrew_! How can you not like the beach? I mean come on, what’s not to love about hundreds of hot men walking around shirtless and coming out of the water with water dripping down their torsos?” Stiles crossed his arms over his chest, clearly waiting for Andrew to counter _that_ argument. Alec barely refrained from laughing at their friend’s antics, shrugging when Andrew turned to him for support.

“I just don’t like sand,” Andrew finally answered, his cheeks reddening when Stiles booed him, clearly not thinking that was an appropriate response. “How about the mountains, though? We could go on hikes, enjoy the peaceful atmosphere, be at one with nature…”

“That’s a pass from me,” Alec said, wincing at the memory of all the weeks he had spent in the middle of nowhere with his family. “I have some unsavoury memories from my childhood that I don’t really want to revisit, so the mountains will have to wait for some other time. However, we could just choose a country, find a town in the countryside that’s not too far from the sea, and maybe has some nice hiking trails around?”

“Always one for compromise, huh?” Stiles said amusedly. “But that might work for me. I mean, it depends on the country, honestly, but I’m sure we can find something satisfactory. Just please, not Greenland.”

“I was thinking something more along the lines of Australia, actually,” Alec said, rolling his eyes when both of his friends turned disbelieving looks on him. “Yes, I know we said we would never go to Australia again after… Well, we all know what I’m talking about. But you have to admit we had some great moments during that mission, and I really don’t want to be stuck somewhere where people don’t understand or speak English.”

“I refuse,” Andrew shook his head. “Nope, there’s no way I’m stepping into that country again, not in a million years. There’s nothing you could bribe me with that would make me go back to _Australia_. Nothing, you hear me?”

“I’m with Andrew on this one,” Stiles nodded, completely bypassing Alec’s pleading gaze. “There’s a reason why we don’t talk about that mission, and that reason shall stay buried deep down where I can’t access it. How about England, huh? They speak English in England.”

“You want to find yourself a beach in England?”

“It’s an island, Alec,” Stiles pointed out. “There are probably beaches everywhere, even though they’re admittedly not the ones I was initially thinking about. Look, I really don’t need a beach that much. We can find a nice spot in rural England, flirt with the farmers or whatever, and come back looking even paler than we currently do.”

“I’m no going to flirt with a farmer, Stiles,” Alec deadpanned, although he was smiling through his teeth. “But fine, I suppose there are worse places to visit than England. Not London though, I presume?”

None of them mentioned why it was obvious they wouldn’t be travelling to London, but the reason lingered at the back of Alec’s throat as Andrew took out his laptop and started looking for the best towns in England. London was almost as bad as Australia, if not worse in a way, and Alec knew they wouldn’t even be _flying_ there, even if it had the biggest airport in the country.

“How about the south?” Andrew suggested, pointing at pictures of beaches and greenery that admittedly looked very nice. “It’s not Washington, and it’s certainly no Bali, but I’m sure we could handle it for a month. Besides, if we’re trying to get away from work, I think we should avoid the big cities. It would be far too easy for us, and _yes_ , I’m specifically talking about the two of you, to get involved in things that have nothing to do with us at all.”

“Hey!” Stiles sputtered indignantly. “We know how to stay out of other people’s business just fine!”

“Oh please,” Andrew scoffed, raising his eyebrows at the two of them as though they were unruly children in need of punishing. “It may have escaped your notice, but the reason why we can’t go to London is _precisely_ because you’re incapable of staying out of things. I’m not saying it’s always a bad thing, but I am saying that it’s not what we need when we’re supposed to be on vacation. If we find a small town, it’s less likely for something to be happening, and you won’t be able to worm yourself into any trouble. Or at least, I hope not.”

“I think you’re underestimating Stiles’ ability to sniff out danger,” Alec answered, dodging Stiles’ hand as his friend swatted it in his direction. “And I also think you underestimate how messed up small towns can be. I grew up in a supposedly calm place, but I can assure you there were mysteries going on there than here.”

“Well yes,” Andrew huffed. “But that’s because we’re in D.C. and have so much security around that trouble never gets past the entrance. Point is, we need a tiny, unproblematic town. I’ll do some research and see if I can come up with some suitable places. Get your bags ready, because I’ll probably have our flight ready by tomorrow afternoon.”

“I knew there was a reason why I loved you, Andrew,” Stiles grinned, swinging his bag over his shoulder again and tilting his head towards the door questioningly. “You coming, Alec?”

“Yeah, sure, we’ll see you tomorrow, Andrew,” Alec nodded at the man, narrowing his eyes at him one last time for good measure. “Don’t you dare choose a place you know we’ll hate and try to make sure there’s at least one reasonably big city nearby so we won’t be completely lost. I’m trusting you with this, Underhill!”

“We both are!” Stiles called out over his shoulder, holding the door open for Alec and shooting him a conspiratorial smile as soon as it swung shut behind them. “Now, be honest with me; we’re not really going to let him plan the details of this trip, are we? Because no offence, but I don’t trust Andrew with anything that has to do with fun. The guy’s great, but I think even _you_ have more experience with going out and meeting people than he does, since you’ve been my best friend for a while.”

“Of course we’re not going to let him plan the details,” Alec snorted. “But he needs to believe he’s in control, or he’ll never leave us alone. I’ll make sure Luke knows what’s going on so he doesn’t get confused but, in the meantime, what’d you say we stop by Taki’s and have dinner at my place? That way we can find the perfect place to go to whilst also enjoying some good food.”

“Have you ever heard me say no to free food?” Stiles raised his eyebrows, stepping out of the building and taking out his car keys, huffing in Alec’s direction when the taller man winced. “If you make a single comment about my jeep, Lightwood, I swear that I’ll leave you behind and let you walk back to your place.”

“I just forgot I had gotten a ride from Luke this morning,” Alec groaned, climbing into Stiles’ jeep dutifully anyways, knowing the thing was a lot sturdier than it looked. “I just can’t get over the fact that you’ve probably had sex in this thing a dozen times. It horrifies me just a little bit, not going to lie.”

“I haven’t- I mean, definitely not dozens of times,” Stiles grumbled, backing out of the bureau’s parking lot and driving them towards their favourite part of town. “Besides, it’s been through a lot with me, you know? There are some things and people you can’t leave behind anywhere, and my jeep is one of them. Hey, do you think we could convince Luke to…”

“No,” Alec said decisively. “Absolutely not. We are not taking the jeep to England, whether it’s technically possible or not. As you reminded us earlier, this is a fully-funded trip, which means we could probably ask for a nice car upon arrival and not have to drive around in this du- Well, you know what I mean.”

“Yeah,” Stiles shot him a dirty glare. “I know exactly what you mean, and I really don’t appreciate it. But you have a point; if we can ask them to give us a nice Porsche or something along those lines, I’m definitely not going to complain. Although I’m not sure if we’ll really need a car if all we do during our month there is sit around, flirt with men, and act as though we’re not needed back home.”

“Not going to be so easy, huh?” Alec chuckled. “I honestly don’t know how long Andrew thinks we’re going to last, but I doubt it’ll be as long as what he’s anticipating. That man is even more of a workaholic than the two of us.”

“And considering you’re _you_ , that’s really saying a lot, am I right?” Stiles snickered, completely ignoring Alec’s death stare. “Oh lighten up, Lightwood! We’re going on a trip and, who knows, we might even find some amazing men who’ll rock our lives!”

Really, there were times when Alec wondered why he had decided to become friends with someone like Stiles, no matter how entertaining the other man was. And then he remembered all the things they had been through together, all the ways in which they understood each other when no one else could, and he knew he wouldn’t trade his best friend for anything in the world.

He just wished he weren’t so exhausting, sometimes.

* * *

In the end, it took them six hours to choose a place to stay at. Andrew had sent them the name of a town three hours into their search, but they had discarded it in less than a minute after googling it. Alec loved Andrew, he truly did, but that man had some serious issues when it came to relaxing, no matter what he said about Alec and Stiles being obsessed with their job.

(If they were all being completely honest, the _three of them_ were workaholics who didn’t know how to take it easy.)

So, after six hours of research, an hour of packing his things, two hours of sleep, and a trip to the closest airport, Alec was ready to get the hell away from the United States and come back as soon as possible. Sure, he wasn’t as annoyed about the vacation as he had originally been, but he was still slightly frustrated at the thought of not working for an entire month.

A month without cases, a month without his usual routine, a month of his family trying to pry the details of his life out of him. But also a month spent with his two closest friends, the people he treated more like family than he did his own parents. It wasn’t ideal, but it was a whole lot better than having been asked to go back to New York to spend some time with his siblings, his parents, and all their significant others. Alec would have rather gone to Greenland than do that, honestly.

“Guys, what’s going on?”

Stiles and Alec froze on the spot as Andrew’s voice reached their ears. They had made it to the airport three hours early and had thought they would have more time before having to deal with an undoubtedly betrayed friend. They shared one panicked look before taking off at full speed, their suitcases swinging up and down as they were pulled behind them.

Alec knew they were being immature, but Andrew had to have found out about the change of plans by now, and there was no way he was happy about it. Alec had deliberately made him believe he was going to choose everything about their trip for them, and then had gone behind his back to make sure the opposite happened. Yes, it was for their greater good in the long term, but Andrew probably wasn’t going to accept that reasoning without having proof.

Proof that they would only get once they reached their destination on the other side of the world.

“Guys, seriously, you’re acting like children! I would expect this from Stiles, but _you_ , Alec? I expected better from you!” Andrew sounded breathless, which was good because Alec wasn’t sure he could keep on running for much longer. “I swear, if you don’t stop right now, I will drag you onto the wrong flight as payback, and I don’t care if we end up in Australia!”

At his words, both Alec and Stiles came to a screeching halt. There were some things neither of them was willing to risk, and a trip to Australia was one of them, no mater how ridiculous it might sound. Still, Alec unashamedly hid behind Stiles, winking at his best friend when he turned around and threw his hands in the air exasperatedly.

“I honestly don’t know why I keep you around,” he shook his head. “Throwing me under the bus like that? Not cool. Not cool at all.”

“Yes, well, I’m in a lot more trouble since this was technically my idea, so I think using you as a shield is the best option for my health and continued existence,” Alec hissed underneath his breath, plastering a sincere smile on his face as Andrew finally caught up to them, looking at the both of them disapprovingly.

“Oh hey, Andrew!” Stiles exclaimed cheerfully. “Didn’t see you there! Have you been waiting around for long, or did you just get here?”

“Very funny, Stiles,” Andrew rolled his eyes. “You guys knew exactly what you were doing when you ran away, just as you knew what you were doing when you changed our destination without warning me. Seriously, I thought you trusted me to take care of everything?”

“Right, about that…” Stiles started, glancing back at Alec expectantly.

With an eyeroll and a long-suffering sigh, Alec stepped out from his hiding position and turned an apologetic look on Andrew. He _did_ feel back about not telling their friend earlier, but he hadn’t wanted Andrew to interfere with their careful planning.

“Look, we’re really sorry,” he said softly, grimacing when Andrew only levelled him with another unimpressed look. “I know we shouldn’t have done it, and I know we shouldn’t have made you believe you were actually taking care of the itinerary even though we were always going to change it, but you have to understand where we’re coming from! Stiles and I don’t do well with being set apart from the world, alright? We need a place that has a little bit of excitement, something to look into, and we knew you wouldn’t let us do that because you listen to Luke too much.”

“Oh my god,” Andrew groaned. “What on earth did you do?”

“Nothing!” Alec exclaimed. “We didn’t do anything! But we also didn’t spend four hours looking up a single town just to make sure it didn’t have any mysteries, any open investigations, or any recent murders just to make sure we wouldn’t meddle. The town we chose looks normal and pretty innocent, but if we find something great and exciting there, well… At least we’ll have something to do.”

“You’re impossible,” Andrew muttered, although Alec knew he understood why they had tricked him.

Frankly, Alec and Stiles weren’t as good as Andrew at keeping their personal and professional lives separate. Andrew was the one who would start complaining about being away from home the soonest, but Alec and Stiles would be the one to mix in their usual jobs with their holidays. If they had gone to the town Andrew had found, a quiet village with no one around, no things to visit for miles, and no problems at all, they would have _all_ gone crazy.

“So you’re… not mad?” Stiles asked, narrowing his eyes at Andrew suspiciously. “You don’t feel the need to murder us in our sleep, or humiliate us in front of all our colleagues, or anything along those lines?”

“Oh, I do,” Andrew said seriously. “But I also should have known this would happen, so I only have myself to blame for not being more careful. Look, as long as you don’t get involved in a murder case, I think I can handle whatever you throw my way.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll only throw good things your way,” Stiles winked, wrapping one of his arms over Andrew’s shoulder. “Handsome, tall, smart things. Things with pretty eyes and even prettier lips, and that can’t stop devouring you with their gazes. Those sorts of things, you know?”

“Idiot,” Andrew mumbled, his lips twitching into a fond smile as he picked up the bags he had dropped and started dragging Stiles towards their boarding gate. “If the two of you manage to find me a single decent man when we’re out of the country, I _might_ forgive you for the stunt you pulled. Although I’m definitely not promising anything, since my heart is still in pieces from when Luke called and told me we were going to Hawkhurst.”

“Well then, if all it takes to earn your forgiveness is a handsome man, I think we’ll be fine,” Alec chuckled. “I didn’t check this place out, but I’m sure rural England has plenty of repressed gay men dying to meet someone new who can show them the wonders of American people.”

“I highly doubt that,” Stiles said matter-of-factly, shrugging when Alec raised his eyes to the sky, praying for patience. “What? I’m just saying, the world doesn’t love Americans half as much as we think they do. Most of them think we’re racist idiots who can’t tell their left from their right and believe we’re superior to everyone else.”

“That _does_ fit Alec quite well,” Andrew teased, darting away from Alec with a yelp when the taller man poked him in the ribs. “Oh come on, we all know you still have to use your hands to remember which side is your left. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with that, but it’s true, so the rest of the world has a point. Although I’d argue that as agents of the FBI, we aren’t completely stupid.”

“Hmm, debatable,” Alec muttered, glancing pointedly at Stiles, who spluttered before huffing indignantly and quickening his step. “I was talking about Raj, of course! Never about you, Stiles!”

“Raj _is_ an idiot,” Andrew agreed. “One that should hopefully either get fired or demoted soon enough. Luke doesn’t like him any more than we do, and we all know the only reason he’s still around is because his uncle worked for the FBI a while back and they’re reluctant to get rid of someone they view as a legacy.”

“Goddamned legacies,” Stiles called out, winking at Alec. “All assholes who think they can’t do anything wrong and then act surprised when they’re sent on a month long vacation by their parents.”

“Luke isn’t my dad,” Alec pointed out, although there was a dark flush on his cheeks at the thought of anyone calling Luke his father. “So I’m not technically part of a legacy, although I’ll admit it makes it unlikelier for me to get fired.”

“Try impossible,” Andrew snorted, pulling Alec forward so they were standing on each side of Stiles again. “Which is really the only reason why we decided to befriend you. I mean, you’re not worth much on your own; you’re just an overworked young man who likes going out every once in a while and can’t handle his alcohol. But with Luke in the picture, well…”

“Ah yes, that makes sense,” Alec rolled his eyes. “I suppose you became friends with me for the same reason, Stiles?”

“Oh no, I became friends with you because I had the biggest crush on you and wanted to see if I could shoot my shot,” the brunet answered unhesitatingly, grinning widely at Alec when he gaped at him unattractively. “What? Have I never told you about the story of first-year Stiles who didn’t know what to make of the dark and handsome young man in his class?”

“No, you didn’t,” Alec huffed. His best friend _knew_ he had never mentioned it, and Alec wasn’t even sure he was telling the truth. “I’m sorry to say your feelings were never requited.”

“Oh, I know,” Stiles said, sighing forlornly. “You broke my heart when I realised you were sort of going out with that guy from the class above ours. Had to pretend I didn’t mind just being your friend even though my entire soul was in shambles once I realised we weren’t meant to be. I’ve never gotten over you, really.”

“Shut up,” Alec laughed, pushing his best friend away from him as Stiles tried to sidle up to him and wrap his arms around his waist. “I’m sorry I broke your heart and didn’t turn out to be your soulmate, but I really don’t see you that way. You’re like a little brother to me.”

“Ouch!” Andrew exclaimed, chuckling when Stiles raised his hands to his heart as though Alec’s words caused him physical pain. “That was brutal; brother-zoned by the love of your life? Can’t be pleasant.”

“It’s not,” Stiles pouted, standing up straight and fumbling for his passport as they reached the front of the queue to get into the plane. Alec hadn’t realised that much time had passed since they had gotten to the airport.

He smiled at the flight attendants who checked his identity, lamented the fact that Luke hadn’t gotten them a private flight – _yes_ , he acted a little bit privileged sometimes – and boarded the plane, hoping they at least had seats next to each other. He wasn’t sure he could handle a full eight hours or so stuck next to someone he had never met. Alec didn’t hate meeting new people, but he wasn’t exactly a social butterfly, and he would much rather spend time with Stiles and Andrew than a sweaty man or worse, a _family_.

“Hey guys, what are your seat numbers?” He asked as he shuffled into the plane and grimaced as he realised they would be spending their entire day stuck in the vehicle. God, the things he did to make Luke and his friends happy, really. He wasn’t afraid of planes – couldn’t be, considering what he did for a living – but it was truly his least favourite form of transport.

“Why? Need me to hold your hand during take-off?” Stiles joked, leaning over Alec’s shoulder to check out their seat numbers and patting the taller man’s back reassuringly. “We’re next to each other, don’t worry. Although I think you might have a stranger to your right, and I have the last seat in a row, which means…”

“Are you serious?” Andrew hissed as he twisted around and glanced down at his friends’ tickets. “How did this happen?! I can’t spend an entire flight alone guys, it’ll kill me.”

“I highly doubt it,” Alec snorted. “Besides, what did you think was going to happen when we booked a last minute flight to England? We certainly weren’t going to get VIP seats at the very front of the plane.”

“Maybe we would have if you had let me choose the destination,” Andrew grumbled, throwing his bag into the luggage rack and stumbling into his seat with a disgruntled groan, letting Alec and Stiles take their places in front of him. “I’m going to kick your seats all throughout the flight and you won’t be able to complain.”

“Whatever makes you happy,” Alec smirked.

“I hope a baby sits next to you,” Andrew retorted. “A sick and tired baby who cries the entire time. Seriously, if I end up having to deal with an asshole because Luke clearly likes you two more than he likes me, I’m going to throw a fit and make this vacation a living hell for the two of- _oh_.”

Alec bit down on his bottom lip _hard_ to stop himself from snorting and embarrassing his friend more than he was doing himself. A tall man with dark eyes and an entrancing smile on his face politely asked Andrew if he could move aside so the stranger could get to his seat, and Alec suddenly wasn’t sure Andrew was going to have the time to kick at him.

He had a feeling his friend would be slightly too busy flirting with and drooling over his neighbour.

“Well, talk about karma,” Stiles mumbled, pouting jealously in Alec’s direction. “Although on the good side, at least Andrew won’t have the time to be angry at us, not if he’s going to keep looking at that man with heart eyes. Might even join the Mile High Club, honestly, given how requited the attraction seems to be.”

“Right, Andrew in the Mile High Club,” Alec snorted, although he had to admit there seemed to be _something_ going on between their friend and the handsome stranger next to him. Then the stranger _winked_ at Andrew, and Alec and Stiles turned to gape at each other. “Alright, so maybe it’s not such a ridiculous notion.”

Before Stiles could say anything else, a mother and her child asked if she could get past them, and Alec groaned internally. Yeah, _talk about karma_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya guys! Thank you so much for reading! This fic has been a pleasure to write so far, as has been exploring the different relationships between the different pairings, so I hope you'll all enjoy what comes next. I'll try to keep the amount of interactions between the boys as even as possible, although you'll have to excuse me if my love of Stiles Stilinski shines through even in Alec and Andrew's chapters x) I'm not sure how long this'll be quite yet, but I have four chapters ready to be posted (and none of them are edited or beta'ed, so excuse any mistakes) so we'll see how it goes! I hope you all liked this first chapter <3
> 
> Love, Junie.


	2. Chapter 2

Andrew stared blankly at his laptop, trying not to glance in his neighbour’s direction. They had been in the plane for an hour, and he was starting to wonder if he would ever work up the courage to strike up a conversation with the handsome stranger. Alec and Stiles were clearly waiting for him to make a move, but Andrew hadn’t flirted with anyone in a long time, and he wasn’t sure how to get things started.

So, after the man had quickly introduced himself as Lorenzo Rey, Andrew had put on his headphones and turned on his computer, hoping he might get some work done if he stared at his screen hard enough. Obviously, he was failing miserably, and the dozens of pointed looks he had received from his friends told him they were perfectly aware of how much he was failing.

Although he was at least pleased to see they had gotten stuck next to a child who kept talking to Alec, babbling about something in an adorable British accent. Not that Alec seemed to mind much, since he had started ranting about giraffes halfway through their conversation, much to the little girl’s delight.

The handsome stranger next to him coughed lightly, and Andrew almost jumped out of his skin at the sound. He had been so lost in his thoughts of how he was going to talk to the man that he hadn’t even considered the fact that the man might talk to _him_. It would certainly make things a lot easier for him.

He glanced in the stranger’s direction inquisitively, only to deflate when he realised the man was clearly trying to leave the row. Of course he just needed to go to the bathroom. With a slightly stilted smile, Andrew stood up and let the man brush past him without a single word beyond his ‘ _thank you_.’ With a heavy sigh, he slumped back in his seat and groaned when Stiles immediately leaned over the top of his seat and raised his hands in a ‘ _what are you doing?_ ’ kind of gesture.

“Andrew, seriously, what is going on with you right now?” Stiles asked him urgently, glancing over his shoulder every two words as though he was afraid the man would pop up out of nowhere. “You’re usually never this nervous around new people, and I know this guy is handsome, but you need to get a grip. You’re never going to seduce the sexy American who has been eyeing you for the entirety of the trip so far if you don’t take a chance!”

“Easy for you to say,” Andrew hissed, his gaze never leaving the plane’s bathroom. The last thing he wanted was for Lorenzo to overhear this damning conversation and realise Andrew had been helplessly pining for the last hour. “You’re not the one who’s seated next to a ridiculously handsome man.”

“I mean…”

“Alec doesn’t count and we both know it,” Andrew rolled his eyes, ignoring Alec’s indignant squawk as their friend tried to glare at them whilst maintaining his end of the discussion with the little girl. “Besides, isn’t it weird to talk to the person next to you on the plane?”

“ _No_ , Andrew, it isn’t weird to talk to the guy who’s clearly attracted to you on the plane,” Stiles answered, slapping Andrew over the head and hurriedly sitting down again when Lorenzo stepped out of the bathroom and walked back towards them, looking absolutely ravishing in his classic suit. “If you don’t do something, _I_ will, and I promise you don’t want to see what I mean.”

Andrew’s eyes widened comically as he thought about what Stiles might do if given the chance, and he nodded hurriedly in his friend’s direction as the stranger sat down again, shooting Andrew a grateful smile. His throat dried up at the sight, wondering if Lorenzo could get any hotter. He wasn’t sure, because he was already pretty perfect so far, but he probably had a ridiculously good relationship with his family, or an amazing job, or a tragic backstory that would make Andrew melt in a second’s time.

Stiles glanced back at him one last time, tilting his head aggressively in Lorenzo’s direction, and Andrew knew that it was now or never.

“So…” He started, cursing himself internally and almost groaning in despair when Stiles let out a snicker from his own seat. “Um, what are you- What are you going to do in Hastings?”

Lorenzo turned to stare at him, surprise written all over his features and, for a second, Andrew wondered if the man was about to ignore him. Then Lorenzo was smiling brightly, as though Andrew’s awkward question had just made his day, and Andrew wondered if breathing was really a necessity, because he certainly didn’t feel like he could do anything of the sort at the moment.

“My sister is getting married,” Lorenzo answered, his smile turning into something slightly softer, fonder almost. “I haven’t been back home in a while, although I suppose it hasn’t been home in a while… Anyways, it’s been a few years since I’ve last been to England, but I’m looking forward to spending time with my siblings again. What about you?”

“Me? Oh, well, nothing as nice as a wedding,” Andrew shrugged, gesturing at his friends. “Our boss forced us to take a month-long vacation, so we found a nice little town in the middle of relatively nowhere and decided to see what Fate had in store for us.”

“Ah, a vacation between colleagues, then,” Lorenzo hummed thoughtfully, lowering his voice as he added something else. “Do you not get along with them? I’m only asking because you’re sitting a row behind them, which seems a little bit odd if you planned this all together.”

“I like them most of the time,” Andrew answered, just loud enough for Stiles and Alec to hear him. “Right now, I’m not feeling particularly charitable towards them, but I suppose they’re my friends. As for the seats, that’s what happens when your boss gives you a 48 hour notice to get the hell out of the city. Not that he put it like that, since he’s a lot more… Bossly.”

“Bossly?” Lorenzo chuckled, raising his eyebrows at Andrew, who couldn’t do anything other than splutter like an idiot, wondering if he should just disappear before he could humiliate himself further. “Don’t worry, Andrew, I understand what you mean. I’m a boss myself and spend quite a lot of time acting in a _bossly_ manner towards my employees.”

“I should have known,” Andrew blurted out before he could stop himself. “You look like someone who knows how to take charge.”

And that- Well, that really wasn’t what Andrew had meant to say, but his brain clearly hadn’t gotten the memo. There were times when Andrew wondered how he had gotten this far in life, because it clearly wasn’t due to any sort of charm or social genius. Luke had been very generous when he had promoted him, because if this was how Andrew handled handsome men, he would probably be making a lot of blunders when he had to go on missions with hot men involved.

“Quite forward of you to say, Andrew,” Lorenzo chuckled lowly, his eyes raking up and down Andrew’s body – or as much as they could, at least – with what looked like clear appreciation. “And thank you; I know I’m quite charming most of the time, but it’s always nice to get confirmation.”

Andrew was almost certain Stiles mock-gagged in front of him, but he didn’t have the time to focus on that, not when Lorenzo was still looking at him intensely, clearly waiting to see whether Andrew would turn their conversation back towards a safer subject, or whether he would explore this strange tension fizzling in the air.

A part of Andrew wanted to do the latter – _really_ wanted to do the latter – but Andrew wasn’t good at tension, whether sexual or otherwise, so his decision was an easy one to make.

“What do you work in, if you don’t mind me asking?” He inquired, ignoring the disappointment that flashed in Lorenzo’s eyes for now. “You said you were a boss, but I don’t think you mentioned what it was you did for a living.”

“No, I suppose I didn’t,” Lorenzo admitted. “I’m a real estate agent. I have my own agency, which is why I’m the boss, but I still like going out and charming my clients with the best properties from time to time. I’m based in Boston most of the time, but I had to take a trip to D.C. right before the wedding, hence why I’m on this flight. Not that I’m complaining.”

“I’m certainly not complaining either,” Andrew murmured, shaking his head to get rid of the intrusive thoughts before he could say anything else. Although, if the look on Lorenzo’s face was anything to go by, the man didn’t mind what Andrew was saying at all. Silence hung between them for a few seconds, hot and heavy and oh-so-sweet, but Andrew refused to be the one to break it.

“Good to know,” Lorenzo finally whispered, his eyes flicking to Andrew’s lips before meeting his gaze straight on again. “What about you? What do you do for a living, Andrew?”

“Oh, I work for the FBI,” Andrew answered immediately. He had never been embarrassed of where he worked; in fact, it was his biggest source of pride, and he never tired of talking about what he did back in D.C. “We’re all senior agents, which is actually why we’ve been sent on a holiday. We cracked a case a few weeks ago, and our boss thinks this is the perfect reward, although I’m not sure everyone agrees.”

Andrew shot a look at Alec as he spoke, only to find his friend still immersed in a conversation with the little girl. He rolled his eyes even as hit heart melted at the sight. He hadn’t known Alec was good with kids, but it wasn’t half as surprising as it should have been.

“Workaholic?” Lorenzo interrupted his thoughts, cocking his head in Alec’s direction. “Or just not a fan of England?”

“The former,” Andrew replied. “Although to be fair, we all are. I’m not much better than he is; I’m just better at following orders, especially when it comes to Luke. And we all like England just fine; after all, we got to choose our own destination.”

“And you chose _England_?” Lorenzo chuckled. “An interesting choice if I’ve ever seen one. Not that there’s anything wrong with England, but most people would have chosen a country in the south of Europe, or something a little more adventurous, like Asia or Australia or-”

“We wanted an English-speaking country, and Australia was completely out of the question,” Andrew interrupted him. “And _no_ , you really don’t want to know why we refuse to go back to Australia.”

“Back?” Lorenzo smirked, leaning further into his seat and twisting his body towards Andrew. “Now you’ve really got me curious, because I sense there’s a story there that goes a little beyond an encounter with a bug or a terrifying run-in with a kangaroo. I’ll get it out of you before the end of this flight, Andrew, trust me.”

“If you say anything about the trip to Australia, Andrew, I will make sure to send you on a train to London as soon as we land,” Stiles cut in, narrowing his eyes at Andrew threateningly before nodding and leaving them alone again, clearly not caring that he had been eavesdropping. Then again, it wasn’t like places were made for privacy purposes.

“Sorry, but I really don’t want to go to London either,” Andrew smiled sheepishly. “When you’re a special agent, you acquire stories that are a little out there, especially when your partners are as insane as those two. I’ve only been a part of their team for five months, and I already have two places I can never visit again. They’ve been ruined for me, and it’s all their fault.”

“Hmm, I suppose I can understand that,” Lorenzo chuckled, leaning closer to Andrew as though he was about to tell him a secret. “See, my older brother was banned from Peru a few years ago, and now I can’t visit the country without feeling like I’m betraying him. Although, well… Sometimes, betraying him is exactly what I want to do.”

“How many siblings do you have?” Andrew asked, clinging onto this new topic, eager to move on from his unfortunate trips to Australia and London. “You mentioned a sister, and now an older brother, so I’m assuming there might also be a younger brother in the mix?”

“Indeed,” Lorenzo said, glancing at Andrew appraisingly. “Very astute of you, Andrew, you must make a very good agent. As for my siblings, it’s a little complicated. I grew up in the foster system, so I met my siblings there, although I don’t consider everyone I’ve ever lived with family. There’s my little sister, my younger brother, my older brother, and me. Everyone else is… Well, everyone else is in the past. Although I also met my sister’s future wife when we were in the system. It’s a little complicated. What about you?”

“No siblings, unfortunately,” Andrew answered. “Or fortunately, depending on who I’m talking to. But your family sounds interesting; sometimes, the people you choose are even more important than the people forced upon you at birth.”

“You might have a point,” Lorenzo sighed. “Although I sometimes wonder if I made the right choices, since my siblings get on my nerves more often than not. My sister is amazing, but a little hot-headed. My younger brother is a little broody. He’s not exactly the most open person, and het gets lost in his mind a lot. And my older brother is… Well, he and I but heads a lot. We’re too similar and different all at once, which makes it hard for us to get along. He’s great, very successful, and a wonderful older brother, but I’m glad we don’t have to spend too much time together.”

“Family dinners must be something,” Andrew chuckled, gazing at Alec briefly before shrugging and deciding he might as well talk about his friends’ family, since he couldn’t talk about his own. “My dinners are mostly dull and slightly stilted, but Alec, my friend, has the most insane set of parents of siblings. I can’t help but wonder what would be worse; brunch with your bunch, or with his.”

“I promise you, mine is worse,” Lorenzo whispered conspiratorially. “One time, my older brother set off the 4th of July fireworks when our foster parents were out of town, and we got absolutely _destroyed_ when they came back. And you know how I told you my sister was getting married? Her fiancée’s dad is the owner of the group home where we all met, which caused a lot of trouble for her when he found out. She was sent to a family for a while, which was tough on all of us.”

“Right, that does sound a little crazy,” Andrew admitted. Even the stories Alec had told him about the infamous Isabelle and Jace – whom he hadn’t actually met yet – couldn’t rival the ones Lorenzo was telling. “Although to be fair, crazy families are often the best ones. Except if the crazy is murder or drugs or child abuse, of course. The FBI doesn’t often have to deal with families, but we’ve heard about some kids in the witness protection program whose lives have _not_ been pretty.”

“It must be hard.”

Andrew made an inquisitive sound, not quite understanding what Lorenzo was trying to say. Was he talking about seeing the kids suffer all their lives? Or about the program itself? Or just what he did for a living?

“Having to deal with things and not always being able to stop them, even when they’re right in front of you,” Lorenzo specified, looking at Andrew as though he could see straight through him. “I mean, I don’t know much about the FBI, but it doesn’t sound like an easy job to have, no matter how trained you are.”

“It definitely has its downsides,” Andrew said quietly, quickly forcing a smile onto his face as he noticed the dark turn their discussion had taken. “But enough about work and your insane siblings! Do you have any hobbies? Any pets? Anyone waiting for you back in Boston?”

The last question slipped out before Andrew could stop it, and he would have cursed himself if not for the amused glint in Lorenzo’s eyes. He had clearly caught onto the hidden meaning behind that last inquiry as well.

“I collect art, I have a pet lizard, and I do _not_ have anyone waiting for me back in Boston,” Lorenzo answered, winking at Andrew suggestively. “I would say that I don’t have time for relationships with the amount of work I have but, honestly, I simply haven’t found the right person. It’s rare to meet someone with whom you can talk for hours without getting bored, don’t you think?”

Glancing at his watch and realising they had already been talking for a little over an hour, Andrew could only nod in agreement, clearing his throat as he tried to regain his bearings.

“Yeah,” he murmured. “Quite rare. Although clearly not impossible, if you don’t mind me saying so.”

“Oh, I very much do not mind,” Lorenzo smirked, his eyes flickering down to Andrew’s mouth again. God, if he did that again, Andrew wasn’t sure he would be able to refrain from leaning over and kissing him, even though he knew it would be wildly inappropriate. He had just met the man, there were people around them, and he wasn’t the kind of man who just kissed the first handsome man he met on a plane. It wasn’t him.

“Excuse me,” he said, his voice coming out broken and breathy and full of a desire he hadn’t been aware he could feel. He rushed past Stiles and Alec, ignoring their confused calls as he all but ran into the tiny bathroom, cursing loudly as he banged his elbow against the sink.

He didn’t really need to go to the bathroom, but he had needed a second for himself, so he splashed some water on his face and hoped it would get rid of his bright blush. He hadn’t even realised he looked so… lustful. It was no wonder Lorenzo had been looking at his lips like that, considering Andrew had been biting down on them non-stop and had ended up turning them a bright red. He looked utterly debauched, even though he hadn’t done anything more than sit down and talk to Lorenzo.

If this was what he looked like after a few hours with the man at his side, he didn’t even want to begin to think about what he would look like after a day, maybe more. Not that it would happen, since Lorenzo was going to his sister’s wedding, and Andrew was going to drive into the wilderness of England. And then they would both be going back to their different homes in the States, and they would never see each other again.

_Except if you really wanted to_ , Andrew’s mind whispered completely unhelpfully. He knew phones were a thing, knew long-distance relationships weren’t uncommon, but he had only known Lorenzo for an hour and a half, two tops. Maybe three, if he was being honest with himself – time just seemed to fly when Lorenzo was talking to him. Point was, they were still practically strangers. They hadn’t even gone on a date yet – _would never_ go on a date, since they were just two neighbours on a flight, nothing more. God, Andrew needed to get out of his own mind and start thinking rationally again. He was a smart man, for heaven’s sake, not a teenager who fell in love after two minutes and couldn’t get a boy out of his head.

He was past that. He was.

Someone knocked on the bathroom door, and Andrew swore colourfully as he hit his head against _something_ , taking a second longer to wash his hands before stepping out of the tiny cabin, grimacing apologetically at the woman who had clearly been waiting for a while. He wondered how long he had spent in there; wondered if Lorenzo wouldn’t want to talk to him now that he had effectively disappeared as soon as things had gotten a little intense between them.

And even though he had just told himself nothing would ever happen between Lorenzo and him, he couldn’t help but hope he hadn’t ruined his chances for the other man. If there was even a tiny chance, a sliver of hope that something could exist between the two of them, he didn’t want to have stomped all over it with his inability to handle his own feelings. He didn’t want to kiss Lorenzo – _yet_ – and certainly didn’t want to do anything more whilst they were trapped in a plane together, no matter how tempting the thought was, but…

But who knew, right? The world worked in mysterious ways somehow, and Andrew had a feeling that Fate had placed Lorenzo on his path for a reason, and not just for a little bit of entertainment and eye candy during a long flight.

Breathing in deeply and telling himself that everything would be alright, he sat back down, smiling brittlely at Lorenzo and hoping he didn’t look quite as panicked as he felt on the inside. And then Lorenzo smiled at him reassuringly, a hint of understanding in his gaze, and Andrew deflated in utter relief. Maybe he hadn’t ruined things after all.

“Are you alright?” Lorenzo asked him, his voice soft and concerned and his brows furrowed in something that looked an awful lot like worry. “I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable, I promise it wasn’t my intention. I tend to forget that not everyone is quite as… open as I am. You may have noticed that I’m very proud of my body and myself, as I should be, but my feelings and my words are something else entirely. My siblings always tell me I can come off as a lot, sometimes, so I’m sorry.”

“You- You don’t have to apologise,” Andrew gaped at him. “If anything, I’m the one who should be sorry for panicking and all but running away from you. I mean, you’re a lot, but it’s definitely not a bad thing. I’m just- I’m the type of person who feels a hint of something and immediately panics because I have no idea how to handle it.”

“I noticed,” Lorenzo teased him, tilting his head in the bathroom’s direction and grinning when Andrew laughed softly. “But you have nothing to apologise for either, Andrew. We can’t expect to know everything about each other after having only talked for a little over an hour, which I suppose is why you ran in the first place, am I right?”

“You’re not wrong,” Andrew huffed, blushing as he focused intently on his screen – that had turned black long ago. “I got a little lost in my own head, wondering what was going on between the two of us, and it looked like you really wanted to kiss me, and a part of me wanted to kiss you, but…”

“But we’ve barely met?” Lorenzo completed for him. “Yes, it did occur to me that kissing near-strangers might not be the best move, no matter how beautiful these strangers are. I assure you, Andrew, I’m not offended at all. My lips may be, just a little bit, but my mind is still logical enough to understand where you’re coming from with your doubts.”

The remaining tension in Andrew’s shoulders evaporated as Lorenzo continued speaking, talking about himself as though it were his passion and making him forget about the moment they had shared. It wasn’t that Andrew didn’t want to remember it, but he would rather not deal with another awkward runaway situation because he couldn’t contain his own feelings.

Instead, they spent the rest of the flight avoiding the heavier topics and focusing on easy subjects. They watched a comedy movie together, although Lorenzo spent most of his time rolling his eyes at the characters and huffing annoyedly instead of actually enjoying the plot. Andrew fell asleep at some point, but Lorenzo thankfully didn’t say anything when Andrew woke up with his head pillowed on his neighbour’s shoulder.

By the time the pilot announced they were about to land, Andrew was feeling relaxed and decidedly disappointed. He didn’t want his conversation with Lorenzo to be over. He didn’t want his _time_ with Lorenzo to be over. There was something about the man that had drawn him in, and he didn’t want to let it go. Not so soon, maybe not ever. But they were about to land and go their separate ways, and Andrew didn’t know how to ask for Lorenzo’s number.

Everything pointed to Lorenzo being just as interested in Andrew as Andrew was in him, but neither of them had actually talked about it ever since Andrew had run out on Lorenzo.. Yes, Andrew thought their connection ran deeper than just physical attraction or the need for a quick bout of sex in the plane, but how was he supposed to know if Lorenzo felt the same way?

“Oh for fuck’s sake,” Alec rolled his eyes, twisting in his seat and wincing apologetically at the mother next to him. Thankfully, it looked like the child was fast asleep. “Andrew, if you don’t get his number and then complain about missed connections as soon as we get out of this plane, I _will_ choke you.”

“Sounds kinky,” Stiles added, waggling his eyebrows at Andrew as he cocked his head towards Lorenzo.

Andrew narrowed his eyes at his friends, but he had pressed his lips together in an effort not to smile, and he could feel Lorenzo grinning next to him, so he couldn’t bring himself to actually be mad at them. Maybe their intervention had been exactly what he needed to find the courage in himself and ask Lorenzo for what he truly wanted.

“I know we might never see each other again,” Andrew gulped, looking up at Lorenzo from underneath his lashes. “And I know we don’t live quite close enough in the States for this to be a reasonable question, but would you mind giving me your phone number? Something about you…”

“I know what you mean,” Lorenzo said softly, placing his hand on top of Andrew’s and squeezing his fingers lightly. “And of course I’ll give you my number. I would be a fool to pass up on the opportunity to see you again, Andrew. You’re exactly the kind of man I’ve been looking for all along, and I want to see if Fate will let us meet again.”

“I have a feeling she just might,” Andrew murmured, blushing when Lorenzo’s eyes turned heated and longing at his words. “After all, it would be cruel of her to bring us together only to keep us apart forever. As you said earlier, connections like the one I feel between us are rare, and I have a feeling it could lead to something… good.”

“Something great, I think you mean,” Lorenzo winked, handing Andrew his phone back, hopefully with an extra number now in it. “But I agree with you; I don’t think Fate is the kind of person to bring two people together only to send them in opposite directions for the rest of their lives.”

And then they were landing, and Andrew shut his eyes tightly as they hit the ground, his heart beating wildly. Although he wasn’t sure if that last part was an effect of the plane or of Lorenzo’s hand in his. Maybe it was a bit of both.

His last few moments with Lorenzo were spent promising each other to stay in touch and talk soon, before they grabbed their bags and headed out of the plane, Lorenzo apologising as he told Andrew he really had to go meet his sister before she got mad at him for lingering.

Before he could overthink things, Andrew grabbed Lorenzo’s arm and pressed a soft kiss to the man’s cheek, pulling away and ushering the dark-haired man towards the exit as he waited for Alec and Stiles to join him. He sighed dreamily as Lorenzo disappeared in the mass of people, leaning against the airport wall and hoping beyond hope that he would cross paths with his mesmerising plane neighbour again sometime soon.

“Andrew freaking Underhill!”

Stiles hurried towards him, pulling him into a tight embrace and ruffling his hair, smiling at him proudly as Alec came up to them and patted Andrew’s shoulder.

“Looks like someone found himself a handsome man already,” Alec grinned. “And not just handsome, maybe?”

“Definitely not just handsome,” Andrew answered, thinking about how witty and smart and slightly arrogant Lorenzo was, and how much he wanted to see him again, even though they had just parted ways. “I got his number, and we’re going to try to see each other again, since he’s here for a while. And if not in England, we can hang out once we’re back in the States.”

“You mean you can go on a date,” Stiles chuckled, his gaze softening as Andrew nodded shyly. “I’m happy for you, Andrew, even though I’m a little bit jealous that you found someone who’s practically perfect for you after like… ten minutes of our vacation.”

Andrew shrugged nonchalantly, even as he preened on the inside. His friends may have been the ones to organise the trip but, so far, he was clearly the one who was benefitting from it the most. He pulled out his phone and opened his contacts, needing the physical proof that Lorenzo and he would be seeing each other again, and he almost burst into giggles as he noticed the contact name the man had put in for himself.

_Lorenzo Bossly Rey._

Practically perfect was one way to put it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya guys! Thank you so much for reading! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter of pure Reyhill fluff, I really loved writing these two meeting and I hope you did too. This fic is going to be a lot of fluff, honestly, so this is just a little taste of what's to come next!
> 
> Love, Junie.


	3. Chapter 3

“We’re lost, aren’t we?”

Alec levelled a glare in Stiles’ direction, but the younger man was completely undeterred. He had been staring at the rain dripping down the car window for the past hour and a half, and he was starting to think they were never going to make it to their intended destination. For all that Alec was usually great at taking them places, it was clear the fact that English people drove the wrong way around was bothering him.

“We’re not lost,” Alec answered, even though they all knew he was lying. Andrew snorted, clearly agreeing with Stiles’ thoughts, and the two men exchanged exasperated glances when Alec only huffed and continued driving as though he knew where he was going. “We’re _not_. Look, I’m sure we’ll reach the town soon. This GPS says we’re only ten minutes away now.”

“The GPS was saying that twenty minutes ago already,” Stiles pointed out. “Maybe some water got into the car and fried the system, because it clearly has no idea where we are. And maybe some water got into your brain and fried it, because you _also_ have no idea where we are. Alec, maybe we should just call the owner of that house we’re renting; they might be able to give us directions.”

“I am _not_ going to admit defeat so easily,” Alec scoffed, staring at the GPS again and growling when the destination shifted from ‘ten minutes away’ to ‘forty minutes away’.

The town they were staying at was only an hour away from the airport, so Stiles _knew_ they had screwed up at some point. Andrew knew it too and, deep down, Alec did as well. The thing was his best friend was sometimes too prideful for his own good, and he hated being defeated by something as simple as directions or technology. There was no way Alec was going to call for help.

Which meant it was up to Andrew or Stiles to do it. The only question was which one of them was going to subject himself to hours of silence from their friend, who would probably view a call for assistance as an act of betrayal. Stiles _really_ didn’t want to deal with a moody Alec, but he also knew Andrew would pull the ‘you’re the one who chose the destination’ card and let Stiles handle things, no matter how hard he tried to bribe him.

“I hate you,” he hissed in Andrew’s direction. The fair-haired man only waggled his eyebrows at him, dancing cheerfully in his seat as Stiles discreetly grabbed the paper on which Alec had jotted out all their important trip information before dialling the owner’s number.

The tone rang louder than Stiles had expected, and he grimaced when Alec turned to stare at him as though Stiles had just murdered his sister.

‘I’m sorry’ he mouthed in his best friend’s direction just as the owner picked up with a very British greeting that gave Stiles whiplash before he remembered where they were.

“Um, good evening,” he said. “I’m Stiles Stilinski. My friends and I rented out your house for the month, but it looks like we’re a little lost and have no idea how to get into town.”

“ _Ah, yes, tourists rarely find this place on the first try_ ,” the owner answered, and Stiles was hit with the sudden realisation that whoever this woman was, she was _young_. Or at least she sounded young, a lot younger than most property owners Stiles knew back in the States. Maybe it was an English thing. “ _How far past are you?_ ”

“I honestly have no idea,” Stiles admitted. “Hey Alec, how far past the town do you think we are? And don’t you dare tell me that we didn’t pass by it already, because we both know that’s a lie.”

“Fine,” Alec grumbled, staring at the GPS again. He really needed to stop acting as though that thing was of any use. “Half an hour, maybe a bit more? I honestly don’t know, but I’m pretty sure I turned us back in the right direction, which is already progress.”

“Sure,” Stiles said, biting down on his bottom lip to stop himself from laughing at his best friend’s obvious desperation. “Right ma’am, we’re about half an hour away, maybe a little less, maybe a little more.”

“ _Ah, that’s good_ ,” the woman answered. “ _And please don’t call me ma’am. I’m not nearly old enough for that. Just call me Lydia.”_

“Alright Lydia,” Stiles said, shrugging when his friends turned to stare at him with wide eyes. “And how is that good, exactly?”

“ _The last Americans that came here wandered around for five hours before finding the town_ ,” Lydia explained, and Stiles thanked every god out there for keeping them out of that particular situation. “ _Although the ones before that were only fifteen minutes away when they called me, so… You win some, you lose some. Anyways, I need you to keep me updated on everything you see around you so I can at least_ attempt _to get you to the right place_.”

Stiles didn’t even let the woman’s words offend him, since he was far too relieved at finally being guided in the right direction. And although Alec glared at him for the rest of their little car trip, Stiles knew he was grateful for the help too. Lydia seemed to know the area perfectly and, thanks to her directions, they made it to the edge of Hawkhurst in less time than Stiles had thought was possible.

With one last warning not to call her again and a reminder that she wouldn’t be at the house, having given her keys to a family friend for safe-keeping, Lydia hung up on Stiles, leaving the boys to find the house by themselves.

“Oh come on, at least we’re in the town now,” Stiles pointed out when Alec grumbled frustratedly. “She probably had other things to do than take care of three grown men who can’t even use a GPS properly. And she promised the house wasn’t that hard to find; it’s just on the other side of town.”

“You know, I’m starting to think you guys picked the perfect vacation spot,” Andrew said, smirking at them as he looked out his window. “This place is _deserted_.”

Stiles opened his mouth to protest, only to snap it shut when he noticed Andrew had a point. It was late, but he had still expected to see a few people milling around. Instead, the town’s streets were completely empty, not a single soul to be seen. And yes, Alec had wanted to choose a rather peaceful town, but this was a little bit extreme, especially since fewer people meant fewer mysteries for Stiles to dig into, which-

“Oh my god!” He exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger in Alec’s direction. “You tricked us both! You made us both believe we were going to be involved in the selection process, only to choose a town that suited _you_ instead. And here I was, thinking we were actually friends.”

“Oh, don’t be like that,” Alec rolled his eyes. “This place is perfectly fine. I hear the pub is great, and the people are generally welcoming, even though they’ve seen some pretty strange things in the past. You might not find any recent mysteries, but I’m sure you can entertain yourself with the town’s history.”

“I’m not here to study history,” Stiles grumbled, narrowing his eyes as he spotted a sign that read ‘Thank you for visiting Hawkhurst!’ “Alec, how small is this town, exactly? Because I’m pretty sure we only drove in five minutes ago, and we’ve already reached the other side.”

“He’s chosen us a boring ass town with nothing to do around so he can sleep in and do all the paperwork he’s stashed in his suitcase,” Andrew said, raising a challenging eyebrow in Alec’s direction when the taller man opened his mouth to lie about what he had brought with him. “Yeah, I thought so. However, I don’t think this’ll be as bad as you think, Stiles. Maybe the perfect man is waiting for you in a field of… cows.”

“Or maybe the perfect man is back in the States, or on a beach somewhere,” Stiles pointed out, wrinkling his nose when the countryside stench filtered into the car. “I swear, Alec, if I don’t find myself someone to hook up with in the next forty-eight hours, I’m going to make sure you spend the rest of our holidays working as a farmhand.”

“Sure,” Alec snorted, turning sharply to the left and leading them down a dubious-looking path. “You’d have to step into the farm first, and I have a feeling that’ll be harder for you than anything else, so…”

“You’re the one who grew up with rich parents, Alec,” Andrew pointed out, winking at Stiles when the younger man nodded in agreement. “We, on the other hand, spent our childhoods in towns in the States that, while much bigger than this, at least had woods around for us to lose ourselves in. Where did you grow up, again? Because believe me, Central Park doesn’t have anything on the farms I visited when I was younger.”

“Yeah, you hear that, Lightwood?” Stiles said smugly, leaning back in his seat and pressing his lips tightly together to stop himself from wincing when they hit a rock in the road. “You’re the only one who’s going to make a fool of yourself here. I’ll be too busy driving down to Hastings to enjoy the beach, and Andrew will probably be having phone sex with that sexy real estate agent of his.”

“I- What makes you think I was even planning on seeing Lorenzo while we were still in England?” Andrew spluttered, blushing darkly when Alec and Stiles both levelled him with unimpressed stares. As though _they_ were going to believe their friend’s bullshit; they could read him better than anyone. “Alright, fine, maybe I was planning on seeing him, not that it’s any of your business. And would you look at that! I think we’ve made it to our destination!”

Stiles shook his head at the deflection but dutifully turned around to stare at the house at the end of the path. It was… Surprisingly normal, although Stiles wasn’t sure what he had been expecting from the pictures Alec had shown him the day before. It was very English, which he supposed wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it didn’t look particularly inviting.

Although that might have had more to do with the dark shadow looming on the front porch, far enough that none of them could make out a face, but close enough that Stiles knew it was _definitely_ a man.

“Alright then, doesn’t that look inviting?” He said mock-cheerfully, patting Alec’s shoulder comfortingly and tilting his head towards the house when his best friend only stared at him blankly. “Well go on, then.”

“You’re both cowards,” Alec huffed, although Stiles noticed he didn’t look half as confident as he was clearly trying to make himself out to be. “Fine, I’ll go meet up with the owner’s friend. It’s not like she didn’t warn us. He’s probably a very nice guy who just wants to hand us the keys, maybe give us a little gift, and then go on his merry way back to wherever he lives.”

“Probably two minutes away, given the size of this town,” Andrew muttered underneath his breath, snickering when Alec threw his hands in the air before stepping out of the car and walking towards the dark figure. “He looks like he’s two seconds away from turning around and asking one of us to go instead. For a special agent, he sure doesn’t appear very at ease in the town he chose himself.”

“I mean, we’re not much better,” Stiles pointed out. “And we’re _also_ special agents, although at least we’re not technically in charge of the team. It’s Alec’s job to make sure we’re all okay, and I feel like this falls under that category, right?”

“Definitely,” Andrew nodded, quieting down as Alec reached the stranger in the distance and shook his hand, visibly relaxing. “Okay, so we’re not dealing with a murderous psychopath. Good to know.”

“Or at least not one who kills from the get-go,” Stiles corrected, tapping his fingers against his armrest nervously as he waited for Alec to do something, ask them to join him, _anything_. “Maybe we should have left the States last night; that way, we would have arrived earlier and wouldn’t have to meet the owner’s weird friend in the middle of the night. I’m not saying this looks like the beginning to a horror movie, but it really does, and I didn’t bring my gun with me.”

“You didn’t bring your gun with you?” Andrew whisper-shouted, as though he was worried the stranger might hear them. “Stiles, those are the only things Luke told us we could take with us from work, and you just… left it behind? What are you going to do if there’s a mystery to solve? Fight with your bare hands? Because no offence, but I’m not sure that would work.”

“Woah there,” Stiles gaped, spluttering indignantly. “How dare you imply that I couldn’t take a scrawny English dude on without a gun? I’ll have you know that I’ve been working out a lot ever since we started the Morgenstern mission, and I’m more than capable of beating a few people up if I’m angry enough. I mean, maybe not that dude in particular, since he looks- He looks… _Fuck_ , he looks _good_.”

Andrew’s eyes widened incredulously at Stiles’ statement, but the younger man was too busy staring at the stranger who had just turned on the front porch’s light, illuminating both himself and Alec. Usually, Stiles thought Alec was the perfect embodiment of tall, dark, and handsome, but this man…

“You’re drooling, Stiles,” Andrew chuckled, nudging his shoulder playfully. “Maybe we should join them? I mean, they look like they’re getting along just fine.”

And really, Andrew wasn’t wrong. Alec wasn’t the type of guy to get along with strangers, and yet there was a small smile playing at his lips as he talked to the handsome man leaning against the front door. The other man didn’t look any friendlier, but he _also_ didn’t seem to have a problem with Alec, and a pang of regret shot through Stiles’ heart.

“I should have gone out first,” he mumbled, opening his door and slamming it shut behind him, grimacing when Andrew sent him an amused look. “I’m just saying, it’s not fair that both Alec and you get to meet a handsome man on the very first day of our trip, and I’m trapped over here with my boots stuck in the fucking _mud_.”

He punctuated his words with a kick to the ground as he dragged his boot out of the mud and stalked towards the house. It didn’t look any better from up close as it did from afar, but it wasn’t crumbling apart, so Stiles would count it as a win. The owner had told them no one had been living there for over a year, which meant he really hadn’t been expecting anything spectacular. He just hoped they had a good internet connection, because he needed to be able to do _something_ whilst they were stuck in the middle of nowhere.

“And these are my friends!” Alec smiled as Stiles and Andrew finally reached his side. “Andrew Underhill and Stiles Stilinski. The three of us work together, and our boss is the one who sent us here.”

“You three make an… odd trio.”

And holy god, the man’s voice was just as attractive as the rest of him. Dark, deep, smooth, it sent shivers down Stiles’ spine. He wanted nothing more than to have the man look at him with those gorgeous eyes of his, but his gaze barely flickered towards Andrew and Stiles before he was focusing on Alec again. Stiles clenched his jaw and reminded himself that he couldn’t blame his best friend for being more conventionally attractive than Stiles was.

Although he was really going to beat himself up for not having the courage to go out and meet the owner’s friend first, if what he had missed on was a few minutes of conversation with a guy like _that_.

“Sometimes odd is a good thing,” Andrew shrugged, wrapping his arm around Stiles’ shoulder and grinning brightly at Alec. “We may not be the most normal team ever, but we work well together and I wouldn’t trade these two for the world, even when they drag me into the middle of nowhere in Southern England because they don’t trust me to choose an appropriate destination.”

“Need I remind you that I was _also_ tricked into coming here?” Stiles reminded him, gulping when he caught sight of the handsome stranger’s unimpressed gaze. “Not that this place isn’t great, obviously! I’m sure it has its charms and that the people are wonderful and that everyone gets along. You guys probably have a great school or something, and I really wouldn’t judge anyone who decided to live here, since there’s probably a lot to do.”

“Oh no, this place definitely sucks,” the man chuckled lowly, and only then did Stiles realise the man was _American_. Or at least his accent was, which meant there was a good chance Stiles had just made a fool of himself for no reason. “There’s a reason most of us left. I have no idea why Lydia decided to keep this place, except maybe for the fun factor of seeing tourists like you get lost.”

“I- We- I mean- Right,” Stiles nodded, shutting his eyes tightly and cursing himself internally when the stranger looked him up and down once before turning back towards Alec. _Way to go_ , _Stiles_.

“Anyways, you have the keys and my number, so call me if you need me,” the stranger said, leaving before Stiles could say anything else.

As soon as he was gone, Stiles turned towards Alec and waved his hands around in the way he _knew_ annoyed his friend. Just as he expected, Alec only rolled his eyes at him and stuck the keys into the lock, freezing when the door creaked open ominously. The inside of the house was just as dark as the outside, and Stiles didn’t feel any braver than he had two seconds ago, especially since there was no handsome man waiting for him anywhere.

“Seriously? You’re going to send me in to die _again_?” Alec hissed at Andrew and Stiles, who shrugged and urged him forward with a slight push. Their friend glared at them darkly but stepped inside without further ado, turning the light on as soon as he found the switch.

“Oh come on, that wasn’t so hard,” Andrew grinned, earning himself a set of keys straight to the chest. “Alright, alright, I get it, we’re terrible friends and you were very brave to walk in there without knowing what was waiting for us. Now, are you going to let us in or are you going to stand in the doorway until you find whatever it is you’re looking for.”

With one last evil stare sent in their direction, Alec stormed further into the house, slumping onto what looked like a couch but might have been a table, for all that it looked uncomfortable. Andrew and Stiles followed him at a more sedate pace and, although Stiles was loathe to admit it, the house wasn’t half-bad on the inside.

The lighting was bright enough that they could see each other clearly, but not so bright that it blinded them, and the furniture was in good shape, although whoever had decorated it could have used slightly more colour, in Stiles’ opinion. Even the kitchen looked like it would be usable, so Stiles was starting to feel a little more optimistic about their stay there.

“See, not so bad,” Alec said, startling Stiles with how _close_ he was, all of a sudden. “I mean, it’s nothing like what the bureau gives us when we’re doing official business, but it could be a lot worse. I feel like it has a lot of charm, a lot of character and, with a little bit of work, it could be a very nice place.”

“Right, work that we will not be doing, since this is not our house,” Andrew clarified, raising his eyes to the sky exasperatedly when Alec deflated slightly. “Look, not everything in life is about work, Alec; there are a lot of other things you could be doing with your time off. Like go out to the pub, or hike, or flirt with the handsome guy you were getting along with so well earlier. So… Who is he?”

As much as Stiles didn’t want to hear about how well Alec and the perfect man had been getting along, he had to say he was just as curious to hear the answer to that question as Andrew was. The woman he had talked to on the phone had sounded nice and smart, if a little too honest at times, and it was hard to imagine her being friends with someone who looked like the stranger from the porch.

“His name is Derek Hale,” Alec answered, leaning against the kitchen counter and wincing when a small layer of dust stuck itself to his jacket. “He knows the owner from his childhood and is only back in town for a while, but he wanted to make sure we weren’t serial killers, hence the surprise visit. And, obviously, he had the keys.”

“And…? Come on, Alec, you two seemed to be having a nice conversation, why don’t you tell us about it?” Andrew whined, sending a pleading look in Alec’s direction. This time, Stiles _definitely_ didn’t want to hear the answer to Andrew’s question, but he also knew how suspicious it would look if he were to just up and leave without giving an explanation.

And the last thing he wanted to do was make Alec feel like he couldn’t flirt with tall, dark, and handsome just because Stiles found him ridiculously attractive. Although a part of him still hoped his best friend would remember the kind of people Stiles usually dated and decide to back off from this specific stranger.

“We didn’t talk about much,” Alec shrugged. “I mean, he told me to be careful in the kitchen because there are sometimes mice that stop by and _yes_ , I know that sounds disgusting. He also welcomed me to the area and said he hoped he would see me around. I get the feeling this town doesn’t see a lot of tourists, or at least not tourists like us.”

“What? Ridiculously competent and pretty damn attractive?” Andrew suggested, gesturing at their bodies as though the three of them were gods to be worshipped. “Because I think that goes without saying.”

“No, I mean _young_ ,” Alec snorted. “I don’t think a lot of people come around, and Derek must be happy we’ll be around whilst he does whatever it is he’s doing here.”

“Ha! Now that sounds like a mystery!” Stiles blurted out before he could stop himself; partly because that _did_ sound like a mystery, but mostly because he really didn’t want to find out whether or not Alec was attracted to Derek Hale. “An American man who knows people here from his childhood and is only staying here for a while? I mean, come on, could I have gotten a better opportunity to hone my investigative skills? Because I don’t think so.”

“And _he’s_ supposed to be the one who works the least?” Alec snorted, raising an inquisitive eyebrow at Andrew. “Stiles basically does our job for fun, and he doesn’t even realise it.”

“Oh, believe me, I realise it,” Stiles corrected, bouncing on the balls of his feet as he thought about all the things he would have to look into, starting with the man himself. In a town this small, it surely wouldn’t be too hard to find a person, especially since he had a name. His mind was running as fast as it always did when something caught his attention, except this time…

This time, he wasn’t sure whether he was intrigued by the mystery, or by the man himself. Derek Hale looked like the kind of guy who had plenty of secrets, a dark past, and a thousand stories to tell, but he was also just _very_ hot, and Stiles wasn’t immune to such charms.

“…iles. Stiles.” Alec sounded like he had been repeating Stiles’ name for a while, so the younger man smiled at him sheepishly before focusing on his words. “We lost you there for a while. I was just telling Andrew that we should go check out the bedrooms. I’m knackered, and I really want to get a good night’s rest so we can explore the town as much as we want to tomorrow. Does that sound good to you?”

“You know what, why don’t you guys go on ahead without me?” Stiles said, gesturing towards the stairs and pointedly ignoring Alec’s concerned gaze. “Put something in front of the rooms you’ve chosen and I’ll just take whichever one is left. I want to look into something, and I like the lighting and atmosphere here. I’ll even lock up behind us so that the wild animals and probably insane locals can’t come murder us in our sleep.”

“Are you sure?” Alec asked, although he was already dragging his suitcase towards the staircase, so Stiles knew he had made up his mind. He nodded and stayed frozen in place as he waited for his friends to disappear onto the upper floor, and then he burst into action.

Stiles had never been good at staying still. He had been the one kid in his class who couldn’t sit down for hours on end and listen to a teacher speak. He always needed to fidget, to do something with his hands, to challenge his brain with something new, and nothing had changed with time.

As an adult, he usually put that restless energy into more useful things, like his work for the FBI, but without that to focus on, he needed something else. And if that something else had to be digging into this small town’s past, then so be it. Besides, this way he would know what to expect when he went into town the next day; he would know whether there was a history of murders, or an asylum nearby, or if the school teachers liked to drink a little too much. Stiles was good at gathering information, and just because his topic of research was slightly different than usual, it didn’t mean he couldn’t do his job properly.

He had his laptop out and ready to be used in less than a minute, his legs crossed under him and his tongue stuck in between his teeth as he thought about where he should start. He opened internet, got ready to start typing in the town’s name, and then-

Then he realised no one had ever given them a wifi password, and he had no idea where the stupid internet box was, which meant he had all the motivation to do his research, but none of the means. He clenched and unclenched his hands a few times, hoping the movements would get rid of some of his energy excess, but he knew it was an exercise in futility.

He had been in this mood often enough to know the only thing that would get him out of it was the completion of his goal. And right now, his goal was to find out about this town, which he couldn’t do if he didn’t have internet. He sprung up from the couch, refusing to let this minor obstacle deter him from getting to his objective. He looked around the room, trying to get into the mind of a regular English person, only to come to the conclusion that he had no idea where one would hide their precious internet. In his apartment, he had just place the box underneath his TV and called it a day.

For a few minutes, he stayed still, his eyes darting around and his hands tapping rhythmically against his leg, but he eventually gave in to his instincts and started snooping around the place. If the owner didn’t want them finding things, they would have probably taken those things away, right? Right.

He looked for 10 minutes, opening drawers and cabinets and crawling on the floor to see if he could spot a wire. Unfortunately for him, observation had never been his strongest suit, or at least not inanimate observation. Stiles could read people better than Alec and Andrew combined, but he could not look over a crime scene without getting distracted by something or the other, which was always his falling grace.

Indeed, as he hit 10 minutes of searching, he could feel his motivation falter. His hands were itching to do something useful and looking for the internet box clearly didn’t count as ‘useful’ to his own brain, not that he disagreed. It was a boring task, and one that might prove to be fruitless on top of that. He groaned, discouraged, and was about to crawl out from underneath the coffee table when a knock at the front door made him jump up and knock his head against the hard wood.

He winced painfully as he got to safety, standing up and gulping as he realised he hadn’t had the time to close the front door yet. He would have ignored the knock, but he _really_ didn’t want the person outside to take that as permission to enter and scare the hell out of him. It was dark and late and Stiles wasn’t exactly the bravest man in the world, but… But the last time he hadn’t had the courage to do something, Alec had met the handsomest man in the world without him.

He wasn’t about to risk the same thing happening a second time. Breathing in deeply, Stiles walked to the front door and wrenched it open, plastering a severe look on his face and hoping it would be enough to scare off a potential burglar.

“I’m not afraid of you!” Was the first thing out of his mouth. Something he deeply regretted when he realised that the person outside was none other than the beautiful man from earlier. “I mean, Derek! Hi! Funny running into you here!”

“Did you… Did you think I was here to rob my own friend’s house?” Derek asked, looking at Stiles like he was a particularly dim human being who didn’t deserve to live on the same earth as Derek did. The worst part was, Stiles thought he probably had a point, given how many times he’d already made a fool of himself in front of the man. “Because I promise you, everyone in this town knows there’s nothing of value in there, except perhaps the lives of whoever is staying there.”

“Of course I didn’t think you were here to- Pshh, no, definitely not! Just wanted to keep you on your toes and make sure you were ready in case someone attacked you,” Stiles said, patting Derek’s shoulder and immediately pulling it away when the other man raised his eyebrows at him like he was insane. “Right, yep, I’m taking my hand- You know, just wanted to- Anyways, did you just say the only people who would come in here are _murderers_? Was that supposed to make me feel safer?”

“Not really, no,” Derek deadpanned, taking a piece of paper out of his pocket and handing it to Stiles expectantly.

“And this is…?”

“My number,” Derek answered seriously. Stiles’ heart sped up, his stomach twisting into knots at the thought of a man as handsome as Derek coming back just to give Stiles his number, even though… “I’m kidding, Stilinski, I already gave my number to Lightwood. No need to look so panicked; I’m just here to drop off the internet code, since Lydia pointed out the house wouldn’t be very useful if you couldn’t look anything up.”

“Right!” Stiles exclaimed cheerfully, even as his heart sank a little bit. He had never been jealous of Alec before, had always accepted that men went for his tall and handsome best friend first, but just this once… Just this once, he wished Derek could have been looking at _him_ instead of Alec. “Of course, thank you! I was actually trying to do some research, and obviously couldn’t, so I looked for the box, but I couldn’t- Anyways, thank you!”

“Is that how you got hurt?” Derek frowned, gesturing at Stiles’ head. Stiles opened his mouth to ask what injury the man was talking about, only to gape when realised there was blood dripping from his temple. “Looking for the box?”

“I- Um- I mean, I suppose it is,” Stiles admitted, bashing his head against every metaphorical wall inside his own mind. “I was underneath the table when you knocked, and it startled me a bit, so… It’s nothing, of course, and you couldn’t have known- It’s not like- I mean, you know, you gave me what I was looking for, so it’s totally fine!”

“Hmm,” Derek hummed, his brows still furrowed as he gazed at Stiles’ pathetic injury. “You should ask one of your friends to look at that, just to make sure it isn’t anything serious.”

“Right, yes- I should- One of my friends, absolutely,” Stiles nodded, even though he knew he would be taking care of his head by himself. By this time, both Alec and Andrew were probably either asleep – in the former’s case – or texting their new potential significant other – in the latter’s. “Thank you again for the internet, I’ll make sure to put it to good use!”

“I’m sure you will,” Derek huffed. “Good night, Stilinski. And for the love of god, please lock your door. Just because most people wouldn’t be caught dead here doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of idiots who would break in for the fun of it. Believe me, I would know about that.”

“Were _you_ one of those idiots?” Stiles asked before he could help himself. After all, it wasn’t like Derek’s first impression of him could get any worse.

“No, Stilinski, I was not,” Derek replied. “My siblings, though? Very much so.”

Before Stiles could say anything else, the man was walking away with one last wave in his direction, melting into the darkness of the night and leaving Stiles to stare after him dumbly, the piece of paper held loosely in between his fingers.

“Good night, Derek!”

He closed the door and locked it as soon as he was done speaking, not wanting to see if and how the handsome man had reacted to Stiles’ use of his first name. It wasn’t like it was a strange thing to do, but something about Derek told Stiles that he didn’t let a lot of people near him, especially not people who didn’t know when to stop talking.

Playing their conversation in his head again, he groaned and slammed his head against the door, wincing when his temple ached at the movement. _Right_ , he would have to take care of that.

For now though, it was time to get rid of the itch in his fingers. He unfolded the paper in his hands before he even reached his computer, and then he was diving straight into his research, promising himself he would take care of his wound later, when he wasn’t quite as busy.

And just before he fell asleep that night, he remembered the hint of concern in Derek’s voice when he had mentioned Stiles’ injury and dragged himself to the kitchen, making sure to clean his wound as best as possible. It wasn’t every day a handsome man told him to take care of himself, and he wasn’t about to disregard Derek’s words.

Not when, even as he looked into the town’s history, the man was the only thing he could truly think about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya guys! Thank you so much for reading! I have completely fallen in love with Stiles and Derek, so writing this chapter was an absolute delight. Their interactions are my favourite in the fic so far, so I hope you enjoyed them <3
> 
> Love, Junie.


	4. Chapter 4

Waking up on the first morning of their stay in Hawkhurst was one of the most disorientating experiences of Alec’s life.

He was used to travelling and staying in hotels and woke up in a bed that wasn’t his own more often than not, but he had also spent his entire life in big cities. Even when his team was sent on missions to the other side of the world, Luke had always made sure they stayed in capital cities or other large towns that felt as close to home as Alec would possibly get whilst being in a different country.

Hawkhurst, however, was completely different. Instead of waking up to the sound of passer-bys talking loudly, cars honking, or just the frustrating yet reassuring sound of roadwork, the first thing Alec heard that morning were birds. If he focused hard enough, he could even hear the rustle of the wind against the trees outside and wasn’t _that_ a novel concept. The last time he had spent time in the countryside had to have been when he was still a child and his parents had forced them to go on family trips, but he had been too young to truly remember any of it once he got back to New York.

Therefore, waking up in their little cottage-house in the middle of nowhere was… Different. He wasn’t sure it was a bad thing, exactly, but he wasn’t sure it was a good one either, since he was almost certain he had slept more than he ever did back in the States. Luke would be overjoyed by those news, but Alec _hated_ sleeping in; it was a waste of time, and one he couldn’t quite afford.

By the time he stumbled down the stairs and towards the kitchen dressed in nothing but his light pyjamas and slippers he thought might have belonged to Stiles once, it was already past ten, and Alec was feeling the familiar need to do something. Or more specifically, the need to _work._

“Someone looks happy to be alive.”

Alec’s head snapped up at the sound of Stiles’ voice. He hadn’t expected his best friend to be up so early, not when he was almost certain Stiles had stayed up late to do some research on the town or their mysterious acquaintance or whatever else had struck his fancy.

“I’d be a lot happier if I was back in D.C.,” Alec grumbled, looking through the cabinets in the hopes of finding something half decent for breakfast and groaning when he realised they hadn’t done any shopping yet. “There’s nothing here, is there?”

“Nope,” Stiles grinned, pointing at the three glasses of water he had placed on the counter. “That’s all we’re getting for breakfast for today, except if you’re feeling up to going into town so early in the morning. I hear they have a wonderful little bakery somewhere, but I have to admit I wasn’t quite in the mood to wander around and get lost on my first day. Especially since you would probably leave me out there to rot if I didn’t manage to find my way back here.”

“Of course I wouldn’t leave you to rot,” Alec scoffed, even as his lips twitched up slightly. “You’re my best friend!”

“Yes, but I’m pretty sure your work takes precedence over your friends, unfortunately for me,” Stiles pointed out, resting his arms and head onto the counter in front of him. He looked tired, too tired for him to have gotten a proper night’s sleep, and Alec couldn’t help the twinge of worry that shot through his heart at the sight. “And then I would have to trust Andrew, and we both know- What? Come on, spit it out. Why are you looking at me like something’s wrong?”

“Stiles, did you get any sleep?” Alec asked softly, stepping closer to his best friend when the shorter man looked away and bit down on his bottom lip. “We’re supposed to be here to get rest, you know, not to spend our nights doing whatever it was that kept you up.”

“Hey, I definitely got _some_ sleep,” Stiles protested. “Probably not enough, or at least not as much as what Luke would deem reasonable, but I didn’t pull an all-nighter, so there’s no need to worry. I was just busy looking up a few things about this town and the people who live in it. They’re not as interesting as most of the people I’ve had the pleasure of investigating in the past, but I suppose they could be a lot worse. I even got some information on Derek Hale, believe it or not.”

“Oh, I believe it,” Alec snorted. “You’re our master researcher, Stiles, of _course_ you found information on a guy who’s probably not even trying to hide his past or current life.”

“Well, yes,” Stiles huffed. “But still, don’t you want to know what I found? Because I promise he’s even more interesting than I thought he would be and, believe me, I thought he was already plenty interesting from the little I saw of him last night. Not exactly the talkative type, is he?”

“Certainly not as much as you,” Alec chuckled. “I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who matches you in words per minute. However, yes, I wouldn’t mind hearing about all this information you found on him. My bet is he runs a secret underground mafia or something. Maybe that’s even why he’s here; he could have an important package to pass to someone in England and decided to settle on this town, since he knows someone who lives here.”

“That’s- I- When did you even come up with this?” Stiles raised his eyebrows, cutting Alec off with a raised hand when he opened his mouth to tell him about the dream he had had that night. “Keep it to yourself, I really don’t want to know. And no, Derek Hale does not run an underground mafia. From what I can tell, he’s some sort of sports instructor in California, has three siblings, and doesn’t like being out in public much. There isn’t a single picture of him online, which is practically impossible nowadays, and even his name has been kept quite private. I don’t know whether he’s just paranoid and doesn’t want to interact with people, or if he’s hiding something big.”

“You want to find out, don’t you?” Alec sighed, shaking his head fondly at his best friend as Stiles nodded rapidly, immediately delving into a slightly more in-depth analysis of the man they had met the day before.

Alec listened as attentively as he always did – which was to say, with one mostly open ear – but most of his mind was focused on what he had to do that day. He would have loved nothing more than to take out his paperwork and immediately get cracking on all the things he had to catch up on, but they needed groceries and he knew he was their best shot at getting everything they would need for the coming weeks. Stiles was too busy thinking about this new case he had found for himself, and Andrew…

“Where’s Andrew?” Alec frowned. He hadn’t expected to see Stiles up so early, but Andrew wasn’t the type of person to sleep in excessively, not even when they were on leave. “I thought he’d be down by now.”

“Oh yeah, he told me he was going on a hike,” Stiles shrugged. “I’m half convinced he snuck out to meet up with that real estate agent of his, but I have no proof so far. Andrew has an annoyingly good poker face when he wants to, and he even made sure to hold back all of his usual tells.”

“Of course he did,” Alec raised an imperious eyebrow in Stiles’ direction. “We always do when you’re around, since you spend your entire time analysing us if we don’t. I love you Stiles, but you’re the absolute worst when it comes to letting go of your work.”

“Says the man who currently has a crumpled up to-do list in his pocket,” Stiles retorted, ignoring Alec’s disgruntled stare as he took his list out and looked it over again. “Are you sure you’re going to have the time to do all of that on top of our main goal for this trip? That goal is having fun, in case you didn’t remember.”

“Oh, _I_ do, and clearly so does Andrew,” Alec chuckled, thinking about their friend and the way he had completely forgotten about them as well as his job as soon as he had met Lorenzo Rey. “You, on the other hand, seem to be having difficulties separating your work from your hobbies.”

“ _Or_ , I’m just lucky enough to have made a job out of my hobby,” Stiles shrugged. “And don’t you dare tell me that paperwork is fun to you, because we both know that’s a lie. You just do it because you feel like you have to, and because you’re afraid to find out you can’t remember how to have fun after spending the last few years of your life working non-stop.”

“I- You know, I can’t quite remember why I keep you around,” Alec grumbled, hitting his best friend playfully when Stiles reached up and ruffled his hair before rushing towards the stairs. “Places to go, Stilinski?”

“Always, Lightwood! I have a mystery to solve!” Stiles called out over his shoulder. “And don’t forget to get some of that horrible yoghurt thing Andrew loves so much when you go to the grocery store, or else we’re going to have to deal with a grumpy colleague for the rest of our stay here.”

“He could always go get it himself,” Alec rolled his eyes, even though he knew he was mostly talking to himself at this point. Sighing heavily and staring down at himself, he groaned as he realised he would have to actually get dressed and make an effort if he wanted to go out at some point during the day.

He had no idea when his friend had found the energy and willpower to jump into this strange month of their life, but he clearly wasn’t on the same page as them. He wasn’t unhappy to have some time off – or maybe he was, it was hard to tell – but he certainly wasn’t jumping up at the chance to solve a case he hadn’t been assigned, nor was he looking for love. If those were his friends’ ideas of fun… What was _he_ supposed to do with his free time?

In the end, he decided that the answer to that question would come to him when it would, and there was no use in thinking about it too much. All that would give him was a raging headache and the fear that he wouldn’t manage to have fun as Luke had told him he should whilst they were in England. He didn’t want to disappoint the only man he had ever considered his father, but he wondered if Luke had known how hard it would be for Alec to let go of his life in the States.

He shook his head at himself in the bathroom mirror, desperately trying to rid himself of the intrusive thoughts he hadn’t asked for. He had spent the past half-hour getting dressed and ready whilst in a semi-trance, too busy being lost in his mind to really think about what he was doing. Thank god his body had clearly had a hold on things and had gotten him ready relatively quickly, because his thoughts were _way_ behind schedule.

As he mentally prepared their grocery list, he checked his phone to see if either of his friends had sent him a message or tried to call him, and smiled relievedly when he read a text from Stiles explaining that he had gone out to track down Derek or any people who might know about him. It was so typically Stiles, and it was enough to make Alec feel a little more at home in this insanely quiet town.

Andrew hadn’t given him any news, but that also very in character, since the man tended to get lost in his obsessions – and Lorenzo _definitely_ counted as an obsession, no matter how healthy it seemed to be. He supposed they would see him again for lunch or, more realistically, dinner. He had never disappeared for more than ten hours at a time, and Alec didn’t think he was about to start now. Not when ten hours was their code for ‘I’m alright’. Anything past that mark was a sign that something was truly wrong, and Andrew wasn’t foolish enough to forget about it, whether they were on vacation or not.

Reassured and feeling slightly better about their upcoming stay in Hawkhurst, Alec decided to head out into town, locking the door behind him and hoping the area was as safe as Derek had promised. The last thing he needed was for a local resident to sneak in, find their guns, and decide to have a little bit of fun.

He paused in front of the house, hesitated, and sprinted back inside to grab his gun before heading back downstairs and locking the door again. There was no use in risking anything, especially not when it came to potentially deadly weapons. Perhaps Stiles had been onto something when he had decided to travel without his gun; there was certainly less risk that way.

All thoughts of Stiles and his gun disappeared as soon as Alec stepped into the town centre again. When they arrived the previous night, everything had been empty, so much so that Alec had wondered if he had accidentally chosen a town with more elderly people than anything else. However, it seemed that the town and its inhabitants were completely different during the day.

People were milling around everywhere, jostling each other on the streets and greeting each other with smiles on their faces, and Alec had no idea where to _look_. There was so much going on, so many sounds – different from the ones he was used to, but not any less welcome because of it – so many people, so many things to see… His eyes were probably comically wide as he stared around the town’s main plaza and let his gaze flicker from the marketplace to the musicians playing together to the group of older people dancing, to a gaggle of children running around happily.

He had heard stories about little towns in which everyone knew everyone else, but he had never actually _seen it_ , and it was truly something else. He didn’t think he could ever live in such a place, but he was starting to understand why someone like their house’s young owner might want to stay. He was a city boy at heart, had always been and always would be, but there was something enchanting about the little town of Hawkhurst, and his heart lightened as he realised his stay really wouldn’t be half as painful as he had anticipated.

Yes, he had been the one to choose the town, but he hadn’t actually been planning on going out. He had thought there wouldn’t be anything interesting to do and he would manage to get away with complete seclusion in their little house. However, if the town was like this every day, well… Maybe he would be convinced to hang out with Stiles and explore the mysteries of Hawkhurst’s people as though they were on a mini holiday investigation.

“Excuse me, sir?”

Alec let his gaze slide down to the little girl in front of him. She was smiling shyly, her dark and curly hair tied up in two pigtails adorned with fish scrunchies, and Alec felt his heart melt instantaneously.

“Yes, young lady?” He answered, grinning brightly when the girl’s smile widened at his words. Good to know he hadn’t lost his magic touch with children. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“My mum and Lydia want to meet you,” the little girl whisper-shouted, gesturing towards two young women standing together a few feet away. “Lydia says you’re the American who’s staying in the cottage for the week, and my mum wants to meet you. I’m Madzie, by the way.”

“Well, Madzie, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” Alec said, extending his hand and shaking hers when she gripped his fingers as tightly as she could. “I’m Alec, and I would love to meet your mother and the kind woman who let us rent her house for the month. But… Do you think they’ll like me?”

He made sure to sound as sheepish as possible as he spoke, knowing it was the best way to get information out of kids as smart as Madzie seemed to be. Indeed, she lit up at the question, almost as though she had been waiting for an opportunity to talk about the two women she clearly loved dearly but hadn’t been sure whether her words would be welcome.

Children weren’t always as easy to handle as adults when it came to observation and information-gathering, but Alec had been deemed the baby-whisperer of their team for a reason.

“Of course they’ll like you!” Madzie exclaimed, dragging him towards the pair of women and chattering on as they walked. “Mum says I’m a very good judge of character, and Lydia likes everyone who she thinks is pretty. And she thinks you’re _very_ pretty. Are you friends as pretty as you? Because Lydia said there were two other people with you, but neither of them are here.”

“They _are_ pretty,” Alec nodded seriously, imagining the look on Andrew’s face if he found out he had been described as pretty rather than handsome. “But they couldn’t be here today. One of them is out trying to find out more about the town, kind of like a detective, and the other went out into the fields or something. I think he wanted to talk to his new boyfriend, but you didn’t hear that from me.”

Madzie zipped her lips up just as they reached her mother and Lydia, and Alec chuckled fondly at the little girl. He had rarely met a child he didn’t like, but he had also rarely met a child he liked as much as he did Madzie. There was just something about her that made him feel strangely protective and, if the looks on Lydia and the other woman’s faces were anything to go by, his reaction was completely within the norm.

“I see you’ve managed to charm someone else,” her mother rolled her eyes, ruffling her daughter’s hair gently. “Now, care to introduce us to your new friend?”

“Oh, this is Alec!” Madzie beamed. “And Alec, this is my mum Catarina, and her friend Lydia. They’re best friends, even though they pretend to dislike each other sometimes.”

“Are they now?” Alec chuckled, raising his eyebrows at the exasperated looking women. “You know, you would make a wonderful agent with observations like that, especially if you’re already so good at such a young age.”

“An agent?” Madzie frowned, her expression a mirror of the one her mother was wearing. Lydia looked slightly more nonchalant, but Alec could tell she was just as eager as the other two girls to find out more about their monthly guest.

“Well, I wouldn’t tell this to just anyone,” Alec mock-whispered, glancing around as though he were looking for eavesdroppers. “However, I suppose I can let _you_ know. I’m a special agent for the FBI, which means my job is to investigate things and learn how to read people, just like you just did with your mom and Lydia.”

“Wow,” Madzie murmured, her eyes sparkling with excitement. “Mum, can _I_ be a special agent when I grow up? I want to work with Alec and look into things too!”

“We don’t have the FBI in England, Madz,” Lydia explained with a small smile. “Although I suppose you could always follow in the boys’ footsteps and move to the States, if that’s what you really want to do.”

“Thankfully, you still have plenty of time to think about all that,” Catarina cut in, narrowing her eyes at her friend. “We don’t need to talk about moving to a different country quite yet, alright? You’re still too young to go anywhere without me, and there’s no way I’m joining Magnus in the land of the insane. No offence, Alec.”

“Oh, none taken,” Alec waved her concerns away. “Believe me, I know just how insane my fellow Americans can be. Hell, I would count my best friend as one of those people, what with his tendency to get involved in just about every impossible plot in the world.”

“I feel like there’s a story behind that,” Lydia said, eyes glittering with curiosity. “You know, you should come to the bar with us tomorrow night. All the young people in the town meet up once a week to talk about everything that’s been going on, and this week is bound to be the most exciting night we’ve had in quite a long time. My fiancée’s brothers are back in town, and I’m sure they would all be _very_ happy to meet a few fellow Americans.”

“Your fiancée is American?” Alec asked, unable to picture someone from the States moving into a town like Hawkhurst. Then again, love made people to some very strange things sometimes, so perhaps it wasn’t that incongruous.

“Oh no,” Lydia shook her head, chuckling lightly. “But her brothers moved to the States as soon as they were old enough to leave this lovely town behind, and they’re decidedly more American than British now, even though they grew up here. The man you met last night, Derek? He’s one of the three infamous brothers.”

“I see,” Alec nodded slowly. “Are they all so…?”

“Thankfully not,” Catarina laughed. “No, the three of them couldn’t be more different if they tried, and I’m quite sure they _have_ tried. They don’t have the easiest of relationships, and their sister’s engagement and wedding is probably the only reason they’re back in town for so long. I swear, I haven’t seen those three in years, even though one of them is one of my closest friends as well as Madzie’s godfather.”

“But he’s back now!” The little girl squealed happily. “He came to the house last night and had tons of presents and he promised we would spend at least five days together while he was here, and it’s going to be great! He’s got so many stories to tell, and he told me one day he would take me to the States so I could see how great everything is over there!”

“Sounds like an interesting man,” Alec smiled.

“Interesting is one way to put it,” Lydia snorted. “Now, I’m sure you have things to do, and I have to go meet up with Maia, who’ll be grumpy all day if I’m late to our cake tasting. Are we on for tomorrow night, then? You can bring your friends, and I can introduce you to Maia’s brothers, and I swear it’ll be fun!”

Alec’s instinctive reaction was to say no. He didn’t do parties, didn’t do bar nights with strangers, didn’t do drinking in general, and yet… His mind caught on that last word, _fun_ , and it flickered back to Luke’s hopeful expression when he had asked Alec to go along with his vacation plan. His step-father wanted him to have a nice time in England, and Alec would never be able to do that if he said no to every offer of a good time.

“We’ll be there,” he replied, hoping he wouldn’t come to regret his words when the next evening rolled around. “And I’ll bring the other guys; I’m sure they’ll be more than happy to make some new friends. Stiles will probably ask a lot of borderline-intrusive questions, but just go along with it. I swear he means well.”

“Right, I’ll try to remember that,” Lydia smiled, hugging Madzie briefly before waving at them and all but running away. Alec hadn’t met her fiancée yet, but he had a feeling she wasn’t the type to accept tardiness.

“We should get going too,” Catarina snapped him out of his observations. “Madzie has plans to go see a friend this afternoon, and we need to get ready sooner rather than later. I’ll be there tomorrow night, though, so feel free to talk to me then! You seem like a good person, and I’d love to find out more about your job with the FBI.”

“I’d be more than happy to tell you all about it,” Alec smiled sincerely. If there was one thing he was good at, it was talking about his job. “In the meantime, have fun with your friend, and enjoy the rest of your days.”

The small family turned around after a warm hug from Madzie, and Alec was suddenly hit with the realisation that he had just spent a portion of his day talking to two complete strangers. If that wasn’t unusual enough, he found that he had actually _liked_ talking to them, even though he usually despised interacting with people for no reason. God, if Andrew and Stiles heard about this, they would never let it go. He would have to deal with endless teasing on their part for months – possibly years, even – and they would never let him get away with saying he didn’t like strangers the next time they were sent on a mission.

Shuddering slightly at the thought, Alec shook himself out of his frozen trance and checked his phone again, trying to remember in which direction the grocery store had been. It couldn’t be _that_ far, right?

* * *

As it turned out, the grocery store _could_ be that far, since it was apparently the only business in Hawkhurst that had decided to settle down in the south-west of the town. It wasn’t too long compared to some of the walks Alec had had to deal with back when he lived in New York, but it was still far enough that he had started to wonder if he was heading in the right direction by the time he reached the small but clean-looking store.

He walked in without further ado, eager to grab his groceries and get back to the house so he could _finally_ get some work done. His mind was starting to itch with the need to do something productive, and the to-do list in his pocket sat even heavier now than it had that morning.

He knew, deep down, that Luke would count his interactions with the population of Hawkhurst as a good thing, and that he would rather see Alec meeting new people rather than filling out paperwork, but Alec’s brain hadn’t gotten the memo. He was so used to working that it sometimes felt like doing anything else was a waste time, and he was afraid it would take a lot more than a month to rid himself of that bad habit.

He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t realise he was about to bump into someone until he had already sent the both of them toppling onto the floor, the other person’s groceries spilling around them. Alec cursed colourfully as he tried to stand up as quickly as possible.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” he spluttered as he finally got onto his feet and looked down at the man in front of him with a hand held out. And then he got a good look at the stranger he had run into and promptly forgot how to speak. Alec had met a lot of pretty people in his life, but he didn’t think he had ever met one who _sparkled_ quite as much as this one did.

The man was dressed to the nines, as though he wasn’t wandering through a tiny store in a tiny town, and the make-up smudged around his eyes did wonders for his complexion, and Alec was starting to rethink his opinions on love at first sight. That feeling only intensified when the man smiled brightly at him, took Alec’s hand in his with his soft skin and glittery nails, and hauled himself up gracefully.

“Seriously, I’m so sorry,” Alec mumbled, blushing when the man didn’t let go of his hand even once they were both standing and steady.

“No need to apologise, darling,” the stranger grinned, his accent _very_ familiar to Alec’s ears, and it took him a second to realise why. “After all, it’s not every day I come across a beautiful American man in the small town of Hawkhurst. What are you doing here, handsome? Did you get lost somewhere on your way to New York?”

“Um, no,” Alec spluttered, feeling his blush darken as the man smirked at his flustered words. “I’m on vacation here with my best friends, and we needed a few things to stock up the fridge and the cupboards, so…”

“So here you are,” the man completed for him, looking down at their linked hands amusedly but not making a move to separate them. “I’m Magnus Bane, by the way, it’s truly a pleasure to meet you, Mister…?”

“Alexander Lightwood,” Alec blurted out, unsure why he had introduced himself with his full name instead of the nickname he preferred. “Alec, I mean.”

“ _Alexander_ ,” Magnus purred, sending a flash of heat and desire through Alec’s entire body. Alright, so perhaps he knew exactly why he had used his full name, even though he usually hated the sound of it. “A beautiful name for a beautiful man. So tell me, what are you doing in Hawkhurst, or all place?”

“That’s… A very good question, actually,” Alec huffed. “My friends and I disagreed on the place we wanted to visit, so I decided to choose a place close enough to the sea but not _too_ close, with no mountains, not too big, and seemingly peaceful. I also would have preferred a town with no mysteries for my best friend to solve, but it seems he’s found himself his own personal investigation anyways. What about you?”

“I’m here for a wedding, unfortunately,” Magnus sighed. “I would have rather never come back to this damned town, but I’m incapable of saying no to my sister, so here I am. I can’t say I understand why you would have chosen this town out of every other city in England, but I’m not about to complain.”

“Wait, you’re one of Maia’s brothers?” Alec asked, his brain suddenly making the connections it should have made as soon as he had heard Magnus speak. After all, there couldn’t be hundreds of Americans in Hawkhurst, no matter how many of them were in town at the moment. When Magnus stared at him questioningly, Alec realised he should probably elaborate. “I just met Lydia, who told me her fiancée’s brothers were in town for the wedding. And I also met one of your brothers, actually. He seemed nice enough.”

“Ah, you met Derek, then,” Magnus hummed. “Our other brother isn’t half as nice as the two of us are, even if Derek is a little gruffer in the beginning. However, I have a feeling gruff isn’t the type of thing to bother you at all, is it?”

“I mean… Not really?” Alec said tentatively, walking into the dairy alley of the store and smiling secretively when Magnus skipped cheerfully to keep up with him. “I suppose I don’t mind his slightly broody attitude because I’m not much better most of the time.”

“Hmm, there is something _very_ appealing about tall, dark, and handsome men,” Magnus hummed, sending a sultry look in Alec’s direction and beaming when the taller man blushed brightly again. “However, I assure you that the best brother is in front of you right now. I’m the eldest, which means I’m the one who taught my siblings everything there is to know about life, and I’m the most beautiful by far.”

“And the most modest,” Alec added teasingly.

“Unfortunately, that title would have to go to Derek,” Magnus sighed. “He’s the only one of us who doesn’t actually boast about all the good things he’s done with his life when we have family gatherings. Although that might be because he avoids family gatherings most of the time, and barely talks when he _does_ come. But enough about my brother, what about you? What are the most interesting things about _you_?”

“Do you always lead an interrogation when you meet a stranger in your local grocery store?” Alec asked, not sure why he was feeling so shy around Magnus when he had been perfectly fine with Lydia and Catarina earlier.

“Only the pretty ones.”

And alright, that _definitely_ didn’t help Alec’s current state. He felt the back of his neck and ears heat up at the compliment, and he almost dropped Andrew’s precious yoghurts when Magnus sidled up to his right and reached out for something in front of him.

“Right,” Alec coughed, turning away from Magnus and hoping the man wouldn’t realise how flustered Alec was. “Well, there’s not much to know about me. I work for the FBI with my step-father and my best friends, have an apartment in D.C. but was born in New York, and have three frustrating younger siblings, just like you.”

“Already finding things in common,” Magnus grinned. “I like that. New York also counts, since that’s where I live right now. Although I can’t say I do anything quite as exciting as working for the FBI. That sounds important.”

“It is, in some ways, but it’s also not half as dramatic as most people seem to think it is,” Alec shrugged. “Believe me, our job is a lot more paperwork than people might imagine, no matter how many crazy missions we get to go on. Besides, I’m sure your job is just as important. What do you do?”

“I’m a professor,” Magnus answered, earning himself an impressed stare from Alec. Magnus couldn’t be older than thirty, and Alec had rarely met a professor under the age of forty. “I teach law at Columbia.”

“Holy _shit_ ,” Alec gaped. “If you don’t think that’s impressive, then your judgement is a lot more flawed than I assumed it would be. Teaching at Columbia isn’t exactly easy, especially not for someone as young as you. You don’t get a job like that without working hard for years and years on end.”

“I guess not,” Magnus admitted with a small but proud smile. “However, it doesn’t have quite the same effect as telling someone you work for the FBI, I’m sure.”

“I assure you, that’s a _good_ thing,” Alec snorted. “As soon as people find out I work for the FBI, the only thing they can talk about is my job, what it’s like working as an agent of the government, and whether or not I can help them with their petty problems. There’s a reason why all my best friends are also my colleagues. It’s a lot easier to get along with people who know not to ask intrusive and frankly frustrating questions.”

“Well, there goes my plan to ask you if you could look up my brothers and find a way to destroy their lives,” Magnus winked at Alec teasingly, stopping as Alec turned to step into the store’s next alley. “And since that plan has been thrown out of the window, I might as well head back right now. You’re clearly in no position to give me what I want.”

Alec raised his eyebrows at Magnus and, in a fit of sudden bravery, stepped forward until he was only inches away from the other man. His eyes were even prettier from up close, and their proximity meant that Alec could hear the way Magnus’ heart sped up at Alec’s sudden move.

“Are you sure?” Alec asked, his voice softer than he had ever heard it. “Are you sure I can’t give you anything you might want?”

“You know, I’m not so sure anymore,” Magnus breathed out. “After all, maybe you have more hidden talents than just that job of yours. Flirting, for one? For someone who blushes so easily, you sure know how to get a man worked up, Alexander. How about I give you a chance to show me everything you could give me, huh? My sister and her fiancée have a bar night planned tomorrow and-”

“And I was already invited,” Alec grinned at Magnus’ stunned look. “You’re not the only one I know how to charm, clearly. I appreciate the offer, and I’ll certainly see you there, but perhaps _you’ll_ have to be the one to show me you can give me something.”

“Perhaps I will,” Magnus hummed lowly. “You’re quite the enigma, Alexander. Lucky for you that I love a good challenge, or I might just have backed off at all the intensity pouring off you.”

“And I would have backed off at your inability to handle me when I’m feeling slightly more adventurous than usual,” Alec shrugged. Honestly, it could have gone one way or another, and he hadn’t really cared. He barely knew Magnus and wouldn’t have to see him again if he didn’t want to once their stay was over, so he had had nothing to lose. Maye that was why he had dared to flirt in the first place. “So, I’ll see you tomorrow? I would love to stay and chat, but I have groceries to buy and two starving friends to take care of.”

“Well, far be it from me to stand in between two American men and their food,” Magnus chuckled. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Alexander. Try to be on time; your company is far more enjoyable than my brothers’.”

“I’ll be there,” Alec said, shaking his head amusedly at Magnus.

As the man walked away, Alec couldn’t help but think that he had been wrong, earlier. Maybe he truly had been looking for love when he had booked his plane ticket. Or maybe his heart was just ready to take the leap if it meant getting to spend more time with the attractive American professor who clearly liked Alec as much as Alec liked him.

It had been a long time since he had let himself enjoy something as simple as a date, and he had a feeling Magnus could be a lot of fun when he wanted to be.

_Fun_. Perhaps Luke had been onto something after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya guys! Thank you so much for reading! I'm sad to say this is the last pre-written chapter I have, so I'm not sure when I'll be able to post the next one >.< I'm currently not supposed to use my left hand (not even to type, unfortunately) but I'll hopefully get the fifth chapter up by the end of this week! In the meantime, I hope you all enjoyed this part!
> 
> Love, Junie.


	5. Chapter 5

When Andrew had promised Lorenzo they would see each other again back at the airport, he hadn’t thought it would happen so _soon_.

He wasn’t complaining, of course, since Lorenzo was a wonderful and witty man who made Andrew smile and feel like he was three years younger and falling in love for the first time again. He was also incredibly smart, surprisingly funny, and he loved himself enough to send Andrew pictures every few hours, which the younger man _really_ wasn’t complaining about.

All in all, Lorenzo was everything Andrew could have dreamed of having in a man, but he hadn’t been ready to see him again only two days after they had first met. When Lorenzo had told him that he knew Hawkhurst, had even grown up in the entire area, Andrew’s stomach had flipped over pleasantly, and the feeling was still there even after an entire day of having planned their first date.

Because it _was_ a date. It was all happening so fast, perhaps even a little too fast if Andrew were to ask Alec for his opinion, but it was also the best thing that had occurred in his life in a very long time, and he refused to back out of it because their pacing might be a little hasty.

Still, he would be lying if he said he wasn’t worried about what might happen on their date. It wouldn’t be very different from the time they had spent together on the plane, but it would be a lot more official. It would be real and, if Andrew had read Lorenzo correctly, it would be big. The man wasn’t the kind to do things halfway, and Andrew wouldn’t be surprised to find out the man had rented out an entire property just for the night.

It felt like the kind of thing Lorenzo might do and, ridiculously enough, Andrew didn’t even think he would mind. He wasn’t the type to go out and make grand gestures, but he could appreciate one when he saw one, even if it turned out to be as materialistic as what he half expected from Lorenzo.

The only problem Andrew had with that is that he had no idea how he was supposed to dress for their date. Lorenzo had told him absolutely nothing about the place they would be eating at, so Andrew didn’t know whether it would be something laid back and relaxed like a picnic on the beach, or something extravagant like a lunch at one of the fanciest restaurants in Hastings.

And so, instead of enjoying the few hours he had left before lunch by walking around town or hanging out with his friends, he was stuck standing over his bed, every single item of clothing he had brought with him strewn upon said bed. He wasn’t usually the type of person to live in the midst of chaos, but he had been looking for something to wear and had caused this nightmarish disorder in the process, too nervous to realise what he had been doing.

“You know you didn’t have to toss everything around the room to get a good look at your outfits, right?” Andrew rolled his eyes at Stiles’ voice. He knew his friend meant well, and knew it was only a matter of time before Andrew caved and told him all about the date he had planned with Lorenzo, but the last thing he needed was someone calling him out on the mess he had created. “Alright, so clearly you’re not in the mood for teasing. I thought something might be wrong with you, but I needed to check. Alec’s too busy with… something surprisingly not work-related to have noticed your strange behaviour, but I’m not. So tell me, what’s going on?”

If it had been anyone else, maybe even Alec, Andrew would have ignored them and told them it was nothing. He wasn’t the biggest fan of opening up to people, no matter how close they were. However, Stiles was different. Stiles was the one friend he could trust to understand his feelings without mocking them, because he just… He _got_ emotions in a way most people didn’t. It was one of the reasons why he was so good at reading body language and facial expressions.

And it was the only reason why Andrew ever confided in him. Well, that and the fact that he was a great friend who never failed to ask Andrew about his problems even when Andrew _knew_ Stiles had his own issues to sort through.

“I have a date,” Andrew blurted out before he could rethink his decision, and he couldn’t even regret it when he saw the way Stiles lit up excitedly. “With Lorenzo Rey, the man I met on the plane.”

“Oh, I know exactly who Lorenzo Rey is,” Stiles smirked, waggling his eyebrows in Andrew’s direction. “He’s the one you’ve been texting non-stop ever since we got here, and he’s the one making you smile all the time. Now, how on earth did you manage to score a date with someone whilst we’re lost in this town? I mean, I’ve been liking the people here so far, but Hawkhurst doesn’t exactly have hundreds of places that are ideal for a date.”

“But does it need hundreds, or does it just need one?” Andrew asked, smiling smugly when Stiles opened his mouth only to immediately snap it shut. “Crazy, huh? However, I’m pretty sure we won’t be staying in town. Lorenzo is only here for the month, and he apparently elected not to stay in Hawkhurst, even though he grew up here. He must have some crazy stories about this place.”

“Hmm, maybe I should meet your man properly at some point,” Stiles hummed, grinning when Andrew grimaced at the nickname. “Oh, do you not like it when I call him your man? I feel like it’s appropriate. I would call him Lorenzo, but it feels too intimate for someone I’ve never talked to, and there’s no way I’m calling my friend’s potential partner by his last name. _Your man_ , on the other hand, gets the point across perfectly.”

“Except he’s not my man,” Andrew pointed out.

“Not yet,” Stiles corrected. “However, I’m willing to bet that after three dates with you, maybe even less, the man will be so smitten there’ll be hearts coming out of his eyes. Trust me, he’ll be your man sooner rather than later. And if not, I’ll make sure he understands that when he messes with you, he messes with _all of us_.”

Andrew shook his head exasperatedly at Stiles’ antics, but he had to pinch his lips together to stop himself from smiling, and his heart melted at his friend’s words. He knew Stiles and Alec cared about him, but there were times when it still surprised him to be reminded of just how much they cared.

“Anyways, whether or not he’s my man is not the problem right now,” Andrew sighed, gesturing at the clothes in front of him. “Because believe me, we won’t get anywhere if I can’t even choose an outfit for our date. I can’t exactly show up naked.”

“I certainly don’t think he would complain,” Stiles mumbled just loud enough for Andrew to hear him, earning himself a swat on the back of the head and a playful glare. “I’m just saying, Lorenzo probably won’t care what clothes you’re wearing. He’s going on a date with _you_ , Andrew, not your sense of fashion. Because trust me, if that was the case, he wouldn’t have even talked to you on the plane.”

“What- What was wrong with my outfit on the- No, you know what, I don’t want to know. Just… Will you help me pick something, or are you going to leave me alone to panic again?” Andrew asked. “Because if it’s the second option, I’d rather get through the panic quickly, so if you could make yourself sparse.”

“I’m not going to leave you here to panic,” Stiles scoffed. “However, are you sure you should be taking fashion advice from _me_? Not to put myself down, but I’m pretty sure even Alec would be of more help in this case, and we all know what his idea of a good outfit is.”

“I’m not asking you to pick the outfit out yourself,” Andrew chuckled. Stiles was right; if there was one thing Andrew didn’t trust his friends with, it was his wardrobe. He wasn’t the most stylish human being in the world, but at least he wasn’t as casual – _boring_ – as Stiles and Alec were when it came to clothes. “I’m asking you to be my personal judge. I’ll try a few things on, and you can tell me whether or not they look awful, alright? I’m not asking for a full review, just a simple yes or no.”

Stiles looked like he was seconds away from bolting out of the door, clearly regretting his offer to help, so Andrew dived into his pile of clothes before his friend could leave. He knew he was being a little dramatic and knew that his outfit didn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things, but he needed something to do, and putting on a fashion show for one of his closest friends was hardly the strangest thing he would have done in his life.

The good thing about having Stiles judge his clothes was that the man was hilarious and had Andrew cracking up more often than not with his comments. The bad thing about having Stiles judge his clothes was that the man was _incapable_ of giving him an honest review. It was never just a simple yes or no with him, and Andrew should have known better than to expect anything other than a detailed criticism of every single item of clothing he owned.

“You know you’re supposed to be helping me, right?” He reminded Stiles as he came out wearing his fifth outfit only to be greeted by Stiles’ dubious stare. “Because I don’t feel any closer to choosing an outfit now than I did thirty minutes ago.”

“We both know you don’t need my help picking out your clothes, Andrew,” Stiles rolled his eyes as he lay back on the bed, effectively ruining three of Andrew’s shirts as he did so. “You didn’t ask me to stay because you wanted fashion advice, you asked me to stay because you needed a distraction. So here I am, distracting you.”

“Distracting me by telling me all my clothes are terrible?” Andrew said slowly, looking at Stiles dubiously.

“Well if I’m going to sit here and watch you put on the world’s most stressed fashion show, then the least you can do is let me have my fun by criticising a few of your shirts and those awful pants you wear all the time,” Stiles shrugged. “Besides, are you going to tell me this isn’t working?”

Andrew grumbled underneath his breath because, really, Stiles was right. Andrew knew how to get ready for a date – physically, at least. He just needed one of his friends to keep him company and make sure he didn’t panic too much in the two hours left before Lorenzo showed up and whisked him away to some magical location for what Andrew hoped would be the best date of his life.

“Perfect. So now that we’re both on the same page and know the outfits were just a poor distraction on our parts, how about you tell me more about this guy, huh?” Stiles asked, sitting up on his elbows so he could stare at Andrew seriously. “No offence, but none of us have the best track record when it comes to men, and I want to make sure you’re not walking into another Raj situation.”

“I’m not,” Andrew answered surely. If there was one thing he knew about Lorenzo Rey, it was that he was the _furthest_ thing from Raj and his bastardly, closeted ass. “Lorenzo isn’t like that, not even a little bit. I’m not going to say he’s perfect or that I don’t have any reservations, because you know me and you know that would be a lie, but I think he could be good for me, Stiles. And he only lives in Boston, which really isn’t that far from D.C. all things considered.”

“Alright,” Stiles huffed. “But as nice as it is to hear that you don’t think we have another disastrous man on our hands, I want to know what he’s _like_. Handsome, obviously, since I saw him and am not completely blind, but eavesdropping on one conversation wasn’t exactly enough to get me the information I need.”

“And what’s that?” Andrew chuckled. “His full history, criminal records, and family tree? Don’t pout at me like that, Stilinski, we both know that’s exactly what you had in mind. And as much as I appreciate your concern, I also know you would only be doing it to satiate your own curiosity, so please stay away from whatever our team could probably find out about my date.”

“You’re no fun,” Stiles sighed. “But fine, I’ll tell Jordan to back off on the research and do something else. I’m sure Luke has tons of paperwork for them to catch up on, no matter how much of it Alec took with him. Now, more information, please? I feel like you’re stalling, and I don’t appreciate it one bit. What is it? Is he secretly a drug dealer and you don’t want us to arrest him? Is he married? Oh god, that’s it, isn’t it?”

“ _No_ ,” Andrew spluttered, slightly alarmed by the way his heart had sped up at the thought of Lorenzo being with someone else. They hadn’t even gone on a date yet, for heaven’s sake. “No, it’s not… There’s nothing truly wrong with him, as far as I can tell. His job is legit, his degree is legit – and _yes_ , I looked it up – and he’s very kind to me, even though he tends to talk about himself a lot.”

“Ooh, you always did like them a little bit self-centred,” Stiles waggled his eyebrows at Andrew, ducking out of the way when the older man threw a pillow in his direction. “I’m not saying it’s a bad thing! But I’ve met quite a few of your one-night-stands from the times when I had to crash on your sofa, and they were all just a little bit obsessed with themselves. I would have probably assumed this Lorenzo guy was like them even if you hadn’t told me.”

“That’s-” Andrew started, shaking his head and blushing as he realised Stiles wasn’t completely wrong. Andrew _did_ have a bit of a type. “That’s besides the point. Lorenzo may be a little arrogant sometimes, but it’s more endearing than anything. He thinks he’s great but he also clearly loves his insane family and his job, and he seems genuinely interested when I talk to him about myself.”

“So what you’re saying is he’s exactly what you’re looking for in a man,” Stiles said long-sufferingly, although Andrew knew he wasn’t imagining the satisfied and fond smile on his friend’s face. No matter how much Stiles complained about his friends finding men so quickly, Andrew knew he was secretly ecstatic for them.

“Yeah, I guess that’s what I’m saying,” Andrew admitted, looking at his latest outfit in the mirror and nodding approvingly at the way his shirt clung to his arms perfectly, the dark green making his paler features stand out. “What do you think of this one?”

“It’s great,” Stiles rolled his eyes. “And we both know that you made up your mind as soon as you flexed your muscles and noticed how good the shirt made them look. It’s a great outfit, and Lorenzo is going to love it. Now, are we done with the pre-date planning? Because I wanted to talk about tonight.”

“Tonight…?” Andrew frowned, trying to remember what Alec had told them after his trip into town the day before. He knew an event had been mentioned, but he had frankly been too busy thinking about Lorenzo to properly take his words into account. “We’re doing something, right?”

“Yes, Andrew, we are,” Stiles said, sounding even more exasperated than he usually did when Andrew didn’t keep up with the world around him. “Lydia Martin, the woman who owns this place, invited us to the weekly young-people bar night in town, and we’re all going. Alec is going to meet up with one of the two very hot men who gave him their number, you’re going to wallow in misery and text Lorenzo every two minutes, and I’m going to pray that the third brother doesn’t immediately jump on Alec like the other two have.”

Andrew’s eyebrows flew up at the hint of bitterness in his friend’s tone. On the one hand, maybe Stiles was just slightly resentful that he was going to be ditched by his friends because they had both found potential partners. On the other hand… His voice had sounded almost jealous as he spoke, which could only mean one thing.

“So, which brother is it?” He asked, a smirk curling at his lips when Stiles flushed before narrowing his eyes at Andrew. “Oh, don’t think you can lie to me on this, Stiles. You’ve never cared about Alec and I getting dates or flirting before, which means one of the two brothers caught your eye and you’re annoyed at all the attention Alec is getting. So, which one is it?”

“Well, I’ve only met one of them, so take a wild guess,” Stiles grit his teeth. Andrew momentarily felt bad for pushing his friend into saying something he clearly didn’t want to, but the feeling went away as soon as Andrew realised this was his chance to make sure _all_ of them went back home with a beautiful partner.

“Luckily for you, Alec isn’t into Derek Hale,” Andrew pointed out, reminding Stiles of the hour they had had to spend listening to Alec talk about Magnus Bane and how amazing the man was. “Which means you can do whatever you want with him tonight, as long as it’s consensual.”

“Oh, I don’t think we’re going to have an issue with consent,” Stiles grumbled. “Since he didn’t even want to give me his number. Yeah, I think I’ll stick to the third brother, if that’s all the same to you.”

“Whatever you want,” Andrew said softly, patting Stiles on the shoulder as he walked out of his bedroom and towards the bathroom, determined to make himself as presentable as possible for his date. “But just so you know, I don’t think Derek is quite as interested in Alec as you seem to think he is. After all, do you really think Magnus would have flirted with him if he knew his brother was also into Alec?”

“I don’t know how brothers work,” Stiles shrugged. “But I know how men work, and their eyes always go to Alec before they go to me, so I’m going to stick with my past experiences and stay the hell away from Derek Hale.”

Andrew shook his head sadly but didn’t add anything else as he left Stiles behind, curled around his piles of clothes and looking more than a little miserable. He would make sure to cheer him up that evening, when he was a little more drunk and slightly more amenable to listening to Andrew’s reasoning. For now, the older man would just have to leave his friend alone and hope he didn’t do anything reckless whilst he and Alec were gone.

* * *

“You look beautiful, Andrew.”

Andrew had already started blushing as soon as he had stepped out of the house and come face to face with Lorenzo, leaning against a sleek car and looking like a real-life fantasy, but his face darkened even more at the man’s words. If he was beautiful, then what was _Lorenzo_?

He looked like a vision, standing there in a plain red button-up and black slacks, his shoes shining in the sunlight and his hair tucked out of the ponytail it had been in during the flight. His hair fell in smooth waves, stopping just above his shoulders, and Andrew was hit with the sudden realisation that he had never been attracted to anyone quite as much as he was attracted to Lorenzo Rey.

“You- You look great too,” he stuttered, cursing himself for his lack of vocabulary. He was usually slightly more eloquent than that, but handsome men tended to render his brain useless, and Lorenzo was by far the most handsome man he had ever met. “I wasn’t sure where we were going, so I hope I’m not underdressed or overdressed or-”

“You’re completely fine, Andrew,” Lorenzo chuckled, pushing away from his car only to open the passenger door like the perfect gentleman. Andrew thought he was about to swoon when the man even went so far as to _wink_ at him as he stepped into the car. God, if this date didn’t kill him, then the next one surely would.

Not that a second one had been planned quite yet; Andrew was just disgustingly hopeful when it came to his future with Lorenzo. He didn’t know if it was something about the man himself or if it was more about the strange connection they had formed whilst they were forced together by circumstance, but he didn’t want to let Lorenzo go. Not now, and possibly not ever, although he knew jumping into a relationship with high expectations really wasn’t the best way to do it.

“So, care to tell me where we’re going now?” Andrew asked. He had been curious about it ever since Lorenzo had told him he knew the area and he had never really been patient to start with, so the wait had been killing him.

“You’ll see when we get there,” Lorenzo chuckled, smirking when Andrew let out a disgruntled groan at his words. “It’s not exactly a place I can describe, Andrew, but I promise it’ll be worth it in the end. It’s a bit of a secret spot only my brothers and I know about, so we won’t have to deal with anyone. Privacy isn’t the easiest thing to come by in this town, so I’m sure you’ll appreciate this little cocoon of secrecy.”

Andrew nodded, a small smile playing at his lips as he thought about Lorenzo showing him a place he had only shared with his brothers, but the smile slid off his face as he finally made a connection he should have made as soon as they had reached Hawkhurst and started talking to the locals.

“When you say brothers…” He began unsurely, thinking of Stiles’ sad eyes and how dejected he would be if Andrew’s suspicions proved to be correct. “You don’t mean Magnus Bane and Derek Hale, do you? Which would make Maia Roberts your sister, the one who’s getting married and whose wedding you’re here to attend.”

“I should have known you would have met them already,” Lorenzo huffed, backing out of the house’s driveway and making Andrew lose his breath at how _good_ he looked, holding onto the steering wheel with one hand and letting his other arm lay on the back of Andrew’s seat. “Lydia probably sent one of them to give you the keys, since she hates having to make an effort so late at night. And then there’s also the fact that this town is small enough that everyone knows everyone and probably accosted you as soon as you left the house.”

Andrew shouldn’t have been surprised at how well Lorenzo knew Lydia, since she was his future sister-in-law and had clearly grown up with him, but he had to admit he hadn’t been sure Lorenzo listened to everything everyone else said. Hearing that he knew the people around him well enough to predict their behaviour was more than a little reassuring to Andrew’s paranoid brain.

“I only met Derek, actually,” Andrew said, realising he hadn’t actually responded to Lorenzo yet. “And I think he’s also the only one Stiles has met so far. Alec’s the one who went out and ended up talking to a few people. He told us about Lydia and her friend, Catherine or something? They had a girl with them. And then he met Magnus at the grocery store. I was a little too busy talking to you to go into town, honestly.”

The last sentence slipped out before Andrew could stop it, and he blushed fiercely as Lorenzo turned to look at him with a fond and amused look in his eyes. He was also certain he wasn’t imagining the way the other man preened at the compliment and attention.

“Well, I’m glad neither of my brothers have managed to steal you away from me,” Lorenzo chuckled. “It pains me to admit it, but I’m well aware they both have their charms and, although they don’t quite match me in looks, they’re not too far behind. What did your friends think of them?”

“Funnily enough, the three of us have somehow found ourselves a favourite brother,” Andrew snorted, thinking of Alec’s besotted look as he talked about Magnus, and of Stiles’ helpless eyes as he mentioned Derek. “Trust us to fall for three men who happen to be related.”

“And trust the most handsome one to fall for the best brother,” Lorenzo smiled, glancing at Andrew meaningfully. The grin only made Andrew more flustered, and he stayed silent for a while, not wanting to say something embarrassing or show Lorenzo how affected he had been by his words.

As it turned out, Lorenzo didn’t mind. He talked steadily as they drove, gesturing at the countryside around them, pointing out his least favourite parts of town, and even stopping to say hello to a passer-by who knew him well enough to recognise him from afar. Andrew definitely didn’t mind either, since it meant he got to lose himself in Lorenzo’s voice for twenty minutes as they got closer to their destination.

By the time they reached what looked like an abandoned house in the middle of nowhere – and that was saying something, since Andrew had thought _their_ current residence was bad – Andrew was even more eager to get their date truly started. Lorenzo was a wonderful conversationalist, even when the only person he had to talk to was himself. He asked a few questions here and there but seemed to realise Andrew needed a few minutes to collect himself so he kindly didn’t push too hard.

If Andrew hadn’t already been smitten, he definitely would have been as Lorenzo opened the car door again, smiled at him softly, and extended a hand out to help him up. After all, who didn’t love a man who knew how to take care of his dates properly, treat them with respect, and also entertain them with his fantastical stories and personality?

“So… No offence, but are we really about to go in there?” Andrew raised his eyebrows as he waved in the house’s direction. “Because believe me, I have been a part of the FBI long enough to have heard horror stories about abandoned buildings that gave even _Alec_ nightmares. Also, we’d be trespassing, and I’m pretty sure that’s against the law, even in England.”

“It’s not trespassing if the land technically belongs to me,” Lorenzo retorted, and Andrew’s eyes widened at the implication. “It was my biological parents’, but I’ve never really wanted to do anything with it, so it’s been sitting abandoned for quite a while. I used to come out here all the time with my brothers, and occasionally with a few friends, so there’s some furniture and decent lighting. I know it’s not exactly a three-star restaurant, but…”

“It’s perfect,” Andrew breathed out, looking at the building with a fresh eye now that he knew the story behind it.

Andrew’s observation skills weren’t quite as refined as Stiles’, but he wasn’t an FBI agent for no reason, and he knew how to find the little clues and cracks in a perfect façade – or in this case, a slightly less-than-perfect façade. The house looked unassuming like this, but Andrew squinted slightly and could easily imagine how beautiful it must have been when it still had someone to take care of it.

The field around it was surprisingly well organised, which meant that Lorenzo had probably hired someone to look after the land, if not the house. The garden in front was particularly well preserved, and Andrew had a feeling the person who kept it in shape wasn’t just a random stranger. On top of that, the house’s structure was in perfect shape, the windows intact and the door sturdy. So really, it only looked abandoned from a distance.

As they got closer, it became even clearer to him that someone – not Lorenzo, he guessed – spent time in the garden, and maybe even in the house. If he had to guess from the traces in the ground and the way one of the outdoor chairs had been recently moved, the person who took care of the garden had stopped by less than a month ago. Andrew couldn’t help but wonder if Lorenzo knew, or if he didn’t care enough to ask.

“There’s everything we need in there to cook up a quick but delicious meal,” Lorenzo said as he unlocked the door. His voice sounded as confident as ever, but Andrew knew he wasn’t imagining the slight tremble in the older man’s hands as he fumbled with his keys. “Or at least, there should be. I got all the groceries we might want yesterday, and the kitchen was fully functioning last time I checked.”

“Well then,” Andrew beamed, willing to do anything to get that beautiful smile back on Lorenzo’s face. “I can’t think of anything else I’d rather be doing today. Your parents had quite the house, and you’ve done an amazing job at keeping it in shape.”

“I- Thank you, Andrew,” Lorenzo said quietly, gazing at Andrew as though he had never seen him properly before. “You really know how to make a man feel better about himself, huh?”

“I don’t think you need much of my help to feel better about yourself,” Andrew chuckled lowly, glancing around the house appreciatively. “But I’m not one to let a beautiful man look so sad because of a house he lives too far away to take care of. There’s no shame in leaving behind your roots and only coming back once in a while, Lorenzo.”

“I suppose there isn’t,” Lorenzo murmured, frowning contemplatively for a few seconds longer before clapping his hands together, pressing his hand to the small of Andrew’s back, and leading him towards the kitchen. The very impressive kitchen.

Unlike the rest of the house, which had clearly been built a while ago and hadn’t been changed or improved with time, the kitchen was spotless and shiny and every modern housewife’s dream. There were enough counters to have Andrew’s entire team have one of their own, and the equipment looked so fancy that he wasn’t sure he could have afforded them, even with his more than decent salary.

“Wow, this is…” He said, letting his fingers trail over the large dining table that had been pushed against the kitchen’s bay window. “This is really something. I think you underestimated how easy it would be to make dinner. Surely, this can’t have been renovated more than five years ago, right?”

“Three, I think,” Lorenzo shrugged. “I haven’t been here since, so I honestly don’t know if the appliances work, no matter how pretty they are. The fridge was fine when I put the groceries in, but this was all Lydia’s idea, so I’m not actually sure about the rest.”

“Hmm, well how about we figure it out together?” Andrew suggested, turning around so he was looking down at Lorenzo, their faces bare inches away from each other. “I’m no expert in the kitchen, and I can’t promise that I won’t burn anything down, but I’m more than happy to help with the preparation. Alec always told me I was good at following orders.”

“Oh you are, are you?” Lorenzo hummed, his eyes darkening momentarily and sending butterflies flying through Andrew’s entire body before they lightened with amusement again. “Well, who am I to refuse such a tempting offer? Now, let’s get to work. I don’t want to eat too late, since I’ll have to have an early dinner before this ridiculous bar night my sister-in-law insists on organising every week.”

“You’re coming?” Andrew asked, perking up at the thought of not having to spend his evening alone.

“Of course I’m coming,” Lorenzo answered, glancing at Andrew shrewdly as he handed him some chorizo and a knife. “And by your reaction, I’m assuming you’ll also be there? Please say yes, because it would make my night infinitely nicer. I love my siblings and all the friends I made when I was a child, but I would never say no to having you by my side.”

“I’ll be there,” Andrew said, his throat suspiciously dry. Really, how did Lorenzo say things like that as though they came naturally to him? How was he so… _Romantic_? All the arrogant men Andrew had met hadn’t cared enough about him to do anything other than talk about themselves, so Lorenzo was an enigma to him. He clearly loved himself quite a lot, but he also seemed to truly want to get to know Andrew, which was refreshing and very much appreciated, if a little suspicious.

“Perfect,” Lorenzo grinned, sending all of Andrew’s doubts to the back of his mind. Who cared about why Lorenzo cared? The important thing was that he did, slight obsession with himself or not. “I just hope neither of my brothers will try to steal you away from me once they realise I got the best deal out of our current trio of tourists.”

“I have a feeling you wouldn’t let them approach me even if they wanted to,” Andrew blurted out. “Besides, I’m not interested in talking to any of them. Not when I could be talking to you instead.”

“You say that now, but you’re stuck here with me for at least another two hours,” Lorenzo smirked. “And believe me, lesser men have lasted a lot less than that, so I wouldn’t be surprised if you went running to Derek, begging him to save you from his talkative older brother.”

“I doubt that,” Andrew said unhesitatingly. “I don’t talk much, so having someone around who knows how to fill the silence without making it awkward is honestly the best thing I could have asked for. Maybe _you’ll_ be the one running to Stiles and pleading with him to get me to back off once you realise how intense I can get.”

“Intense is more than fine with me,” Lorenzo all but purred, rolling out the dough he had just made and never once looking away from Andrew.

The younger man focused on the different toppings he had been working on for the last few minutes, knowing he would forget what he had been doing if he so much as glanced at Lorenzo. Clearly, there were _some_ downsides to being extremely attracted to someone, the first being a complete lack of concentration and the desire to look at them all the time.

Thankfully for Andrew, his entire life was dedicated to pretending to be someone he wasn’t. It was all too easy to focus on his cooking and act as though he couldn’t tell Lorenzo was still staring at him intently. It was far too simple to smirk and make Lorenzo think he was teasing him, even though he was mostly just vibrating anxiously on the inside. And most of all, it was ridiculously effortless to finish scattering the toppings, place the pizza in the oven, and gaze at Lorenzo innocently, as though he had no idea what had just happened.

“Oh, you’re good,” Lorenzo laughed dangerously, stepping closer to Andrew and gazing up at him with hungry and dark eyes. “You’re very good. You know, I was starting to wonder what your secret skill was with the FBI, but it looks like you gave me the answer to my question even before I had to ask. Undercover work, Andrew?”

“What can I say?” Andrew shrugged, switching back to himself and smiling sheepishly. Whilst the act had been practical to hold up whilst he was cooking, as well as a fun trick to play on Lorenzo, he didn’t want to be anyone other than himself for their evening together. “Stiles is our observational and behavioural master, Alec is our planning, plotting, and paperwork genius, and I’m their undercover man.”

“Quite impressive,” Lorenzo murmured. “And here I was, thinking _I_ would be the one doing all the wooing.”

“Oh, haven’t you heard?” Andrew grinned mischievously, feeling far more confident now that he had managed to surprise Lorenzo with something new about himself. Something new and clearly attractive, if his date’s reaction was anything to go by. “These days, wooing is a two person job.”

“It is?” Lorenzo chuckled. “Well, I’m certainly not going to complain about that. Now, what do you say we open a bottle of wine whilst we wait for the pizza to cook? We’ll be getting plenty of alcohol in our systems tonight, but a glass of rosé has never hurt anyone, has it?”

“Definitely not,” Andrew grinned, letting his gaze linger on Lorenzo as he glided across the kitchen for a bottle and some glasses. The man was truly beautiful, and Andrew couldn’t have been happier to find out he was just as good a date as he had been a plane neighbour and a friend over the last two days.

As they talked about their families and their jobs and their hopes for the future, as well as their love for the States, Andrew felt himself melt little by little. Yes, he had been worried about his date, but it was clear to him that Lorenzo cared enough to make this special for him.

And really, it had been such a long time since he had last felt so wanted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya guys! Thank you so much for reading! I really enjoyed writing this chapter, since I quite like what I've done with Lorenzo and Andrew's relationship, so I hope you enjoyed it as well! Once again, I'm writing these chapters as I go, and my wrist is still messed up enough that I'm not sure when the next chapter will be up, but it should hopefully be soon! 
> 
> Love, Junie.


	6. Chapter 6

Stiles would be lying if he said he hadn’t thought about skipping bar night in favour of a night alone in the house, preferably spent watching movies and drowning his loneliness in junk food.

It had been bad enough to know Alec would be hanging out with the infamous Magnus Bane, and even worse to know Derek would be there, probably getting into a petty fight with his brother for Alec’s affection. However, he had at least thought he would be able to rely on Andrew. And then he had received a single text telling him that _Lorenzo Rey_ was the third brother – because of course he was – and Stiles had stopped pretending like going out was a good idea.

It was a terrible idea. He would be miserable, would only spend the night trying to get rid of his sorrows and worries by drinking profusely, and then he would be drunk and would probably do something stupid and- _yeah, no_ , not a good idea at all. Alec and Andrew didn’t need him to be happy, at least not when Magnus and Lorenzo were around.

“We’re not going to leave you alone, you know,” Alec rolled his eyes as Stiles buried himself even deeper underneath his covers, willing to ignore the drops of sweat streaming down his back if it meant not looking at his best friend. “Seriously, Stiles, we may have found ourselves… Potential partners, but it doesn’t mean we’re going to forget about you. Although Andrew seems to think you’ve also found yourself an attractive man to dote on, so I’m not sure what you’re so worried about.”

“First of all, I have _not_ found myself an attractive man,” Stiles said petulantly, letting one of his eyes peek out of the covers to glare at Alec. “And secondly, I’m not worried about anything. I just don’t think you need me to be your wingman when you’ve already got yourself two handsome brothers vying for your attention. I’m not even going to talk about Andrew and his obsession for this Lorenzo guy. You two are going to be just fine without me.”

“But are you going to be just fine without us?” Alec asked quietly and, although they had been joking seconds earlier, Stiles could hear the genuine concern colouring his best friend’s words. “Because if not, I will absolutely ditch Magnus and drink with you instead. Just _please_ come tonight, alright? I think it’s going to be fun, and Andrew’s going to introduce us to his boyfriend properly, and it’ll all be great.”

“He’s not my boyfriend,” Andrew grumbled as he walked into the room, narrowing his eyes at Alec’s unapologetic look. “And I’m not going to introduce him to my two crazy co-workers and friends so soon into our relationship. We’ve only gone on one date, for god’s sake.”

“But sometimes, one date is more than enough,” Stiles said teasingly, batting his eyelashes sweetly in Andrew’s general direction. The effect might have been slightly reduced due to Stiles’ current hiding spot but, if the dirty look Andrew sent him was anything to go by, he had understood exactly what Stiles was trying to do. “Oh come on, I just want to know whether you think the two of you could last, nothing more.”

“ _No,_ you want to know whether you should pull out the normal stalking, or whether you should dig deeper into Lorenzo’s files,” Andrew scoffed. Stiles would have denied his accusations, but they all knew that was _exactly_ what Stiles was planning on doing as soon as he had access to a slightly more decent internet connection. “Now, have you decided to pull your head out of your ass and come with us tonight, or are you going to stay here and watch the Notebook for the fiftieth time?”

“Hey! There’s nothing wrong with the Notebook!” Stiles exclaimed indignantly. It wasn’t his fault that his friends didn’t appreciate the beauty of a good romance movie.

“Of course there isn’t,” Alec placated him, sitting on the edge of his bed and reaching for the covers, tugging lightly and smiling when Stiles didn’t try to hide again. He wasn’t a _complete_ child, thank you very much. “But that doesn’t mean you should choose it over a social event, especially not when it’s an event full of young people. Potentially hot, probably single, hot people. Are you really going to tell me you’re not even just a little bit curious?”

“Oh, he’s plenty curious,” Andrew snorted, and Stiles sent him the darkest look he could muster as he tried to hide his embarrassment over having yet another unattainable crush.

“Andrew, I swear, if you so much as speak his-”

“You remember Derek Hale, don’t you Alec?” Andrew continued, ploughing on as though he hadn’t heard a word of what Stiles had just said. “Magnus and Lorenzo’s brother?”

“Ah, yes, the third brother,” Alec hummed. “But why are you- _oh_ , really Stiles? I mean, no offence, but I never knew you had a thing for the tall, dark and broody type.”

“I thought we went over the fact that I used to have a crush on you,” Stiles raised his eyebrows. “And believe me, you are very much the depiction of tall, dark and broody. Besides, who said I had a thing for Derek?”

He tried shooting a desperate glance in Andrew’s direction, but his friend was clearly set on making him regret all his life choices, smirking at him briefly before turning back towards Alec.

“Our bright but idiotic friend is under the impression that Derek has a thing for _you_ and has therefore decided to ignore his attraction for the youngest of our three brothers,” Andrew explained calmly, grinning when understanding and bewilderment simultaneously appeared in Alec’s eyes. Stiles groaned. Loudly.

“Why on earth would you think that?” Alec asked, genuine confusion written all over his face. Stiles sometimes forgot how oblivious his best friend could be, especially when it came to other people’s attraction to him.

“Alec, man,” Stiles sighed heavily and sitting up to pat Alec’s shoulder, as though _he_ was the one who needed comforting. “You’re literally the hottest guy on our team, you’re competent and smart and never fumble for your words, except when you’re really into someone which I’ll admit is a little unfortunate. You’re kind and compassionate and have eyes that most people want to drown in, and on top of that you have the body of a Greek god. Whether you know it or not, people tend to get drawn to you like moths to light, and Derek Hale is no exception. Besides, he gave you his phone number.”

“Yeah, in case of emergencies with the house,” Alec frowned deeply. “And not everyone is interested in me. Look at Lorenzo, for example.”

“A fluke in the system,” Stiles waved his reasoning away. “He met Andrew first and got to know him one-on-one for hours whilst we were stuck with the crying child, it only makes sense for him to have chosen Andrew over you. When it comes down to personality, it’s really a toss-up between the two of you, so you can’t always come out victorious.”

“As much as I enjoy hearing about how great you think I am, that is far besides the point,” Alec huffed, standing up and all but dragging Stiles along with him. “We need to be at the bar in an hour and a half, and you’re coming with us, because we’re not the only ones with great personalities. If we can charm our own brothers, there’s no reason for you not to do the same on your end. Derek would be an idiot to turn you down, especially once he gets to know you.”

Stiles opened his mouth to protest, to tell them he was nowhere near as competent around men as them, but they were already leaving his room. He could have gone straight back to bed, ignored their request to have him tag along, and turned on his laptop to watch the Notebook, but… He had always been weak when it came to Alec and going out, since his friend so rarely did anything for himself, so he was reluctant to bail on him the _one_ time he was finally willing to enjoy life.

Besides, he could always go to the bar but ignore Derek. His friends would probably disappear to find their men, no matter how many promises they made him, but there were other young people in town, weren’t there? There was the mysterious Lydia Martin and her fiancée, the young mom Alec had met when he had gone for a walk the day before, and possibly even more than that. Stiles was a little awkward around the edges, but he had never struggled to make new friends, so perhaps a night out was exactly what he needed.

Screw Derek Hale and his attraction for Alec, Stiles was sure he would manage to find a few people who would enjoy his company and not knock on his front door in the middle of the night like a serial killer.

Once his mind was made up, it took Stiles less than an hour to get ready – both physically and mentally – for a night with his friends and, more importantly, with a bunch of strangers he wanted to impress. At least just a little bit, enough for them to want to be friends with him. He wasn’t asking for love at first sight or another friend like Alec because, as much as he got on his nerves, his best friend was irreplaceable, but maybe he would find a good group of people out there.

So, he made sure he looked more than presentable; he made sure he looked _good_. He slipped on his most casual yet classy outfit he had brought along with him, discarding his flannel shirts and going for a button-up he hadn’t worn in months but that he knew looked great on him. He even managed to pull out a pair of pants that stuck to him like they had been made for his body and made sure his hair wasn’t as messy as it had been when he had gotten out of bed.

In the end, he thought he had done a decent job at making himself out to be a laid back guy who the townspeople could trust and grow to like. And if he also turned out looking just fuckable enough to make both guys _and_ girls swoon a little bit when he walked by? Well, that was no one’s business but his own.

His and his friends’, of course, since neither of them were foolish enough to believe he would subject himself to those pants for no reason. They were special agents after all and, more importantly, they were his friends. They knew he couldn’t care less about his appearance on a regular day, so dressing up always meant something more on his part. God, sometimes he wished his best friends weren’t so damn observant.

“With the amount of effort you put in to choose your outfit tonight, Derek had better take a second look at you,” Andrew whistled as they met up in the living room, having decided beforehand that they would walk into town together. Stiles blushed slightly at the compliment and decided that maybe having observant friends wasn’t such a bad thing after all, not if it got him little comments like that every once in a while.

“Derek is an idiot if he hasn’t _already_ developed a bit of a crush on Stiles,” Alec added, and this time Stiles flushed an even darker red. He had gotten over his misguided feelings for Alec years ago, but his stomach always flipped over pleasantly when the older man talked about Stiles like he was someone worth loving. “Either way, we’ll make sure he knows not to hurt the youngest member of our team. No one messes with my little brother.”

“Oh my god, please tell me you’re not going to give Derek a shovel talk if he decides to pay attention to me,” Stiles groaned as they walked out of the house and carefully locked it behind themselves. “Seriously, I’m old enough to take care of myself. Hell, Andrew is only like, a year older than me! Doesn’t that mean you should be focusing on Lorenzo before Derek? Since, you know, they’re actually going out.”

“Now _that_ is a good idea, Stilinski,” Alec grinned mischievously, chuckling when Andrew shot a dark glare in Stiles’ direction. “Those two won’t know what hit them. Although I’m assuming we might get a similar talk, since the three of them are brothers, and that means we’d just cancel each other out.”

“Or maybe not,” Andrew pointed out, shrugging when Stiles looked at him inquisitively. He was the only one who hadn’t really talked to one of the three brothers, so he wasn’t sure if Andrew was implying that they just didn’t get along, or if there was something a little more serious going on with the family. “Oh, it’s nothing, just a little bit of sibling rivalry. I’m not sure how Magnus and Derek feel about their brothers, but Lorenzo seems to think their relationships are all a little complicated. I don’t doubt that they care for each other, but I wouldn’t be so sure about the shovel talks, especially not on Lorenzo’s end.”

It… made sense, actually. Alec, Andrew and Stiles had a strange relationship, compared to what most friends and siblings probably lived through. The three of them were special agents, which meant that vetting partners was always done slightly more seriously, with a little more intent, and Stiles had already warned his friends off plenty of people with dubious pasts, just as they had done the same for him. However, Alec had never been the same way with his siblings, had always been more reserved and never as involved in their relationships, so it didn’t seem like a stretch for Andrew to think the brothers would stay out of each other’s way.

“Well, whether they talk to us or not, maybe _you_ should stay out of the way,” Stiles huffed, glancing pointedly at Alec. He knew Andrew wouldn’t attempt anything on his own, so the biggest concern was their eldest friend. “I know you mean well, but I will seriously lock you out of this house if you embarrass me in front of Derek. I embarrass myself enough as it is; we don’t need to add more fuel to the fire.”

Alec rolled his eyes at his dramatics, but Stiles was pretty sure – at least fifty percent sure – that he would leave Derek alone. Or at least leave Derek alone when it came to _Stiles_ , because Stiles was still half convinced that Alec would end up being the one talking to Derek all night, Magnus or no Magnus.

He knew bringing that up wouldn’t do him any good, though, so he stayed silent as they walked in the cool – borderline cold – evening air. Andrew and Alec were talking quietly in front of him, but Stiles wasn’t in the mood to speak quite yet. He liked taking a few minutes for himself before walking into a room full of people, since he knew he tended to get a little overwhelmed when surrounded by large groups of strangers, and he loved that his friends respected his quirky habits.

By the time they reached the bar, a small place called the Hunter’s Moon which didn’t look like much on the outside but was clearly lively on the inside, Stiles was feeling more than ready for a night of alcohol and debauchery. Well, mostly alcohol, since the only person he wanted to be debauched by was painfully out of his league, but the point still stood.

“You’re both obligated to have at least one drink with me before you disappear with your men,” Stiles said sternly right before they entered the building, levelling both his friends with serious stares. “And I want to meet them. _Yes_ , Andrew, I know I technically already met Lorenzo, but this is different and we both know it. I want the two of you to drag your little boytoys and properly introduce them to your best friend, alright?”

“I don’t think Lorenzo would appreciate being called a boytoy,” Andrew said, but they both knew his poor attempt at deflection wasn’t going to get him anywhere. “ _Fine_ , I’ll try to find him and bring him over so you can terrify him with your threats of internet stalking and your menacing scowl.”

“You better do a lot more than just try, Underhill,” Stiles wagged his finger in Andrew’s face, before raising his eyebrows at Alec and beaming when his best friend sighed and nodded. “Perfect! Now, time for us to go and charm the pants off these townspeople! Can’t let them think we’re not the best Americans out there.”

“Pretty sure their very own local brothers are the best Americans in their hearts,” Alec pointed out, rolling his eyes when both his friends ignored him in favour of stepping into the bar. “Just saying!”

“We don’t want your defeatist opinions, Lightwood!” Stiles called out over his shoulder, already on his way to losing himself in the crowd.

And god, it was a _crowd_. Whatever he had expected from a night out in Hawkhurst, it wasn’t this. He hadn’t expected a hundred people pushed together in a crammed room, laughing and dancing and looking like they were having the best time of their lives. He had expected at most thirty people, and more realistically a dozen, but this was something else.

It was something else, and it was _great_ , because if there was one thing Stiles loved about going out, it was being able to blend in, lose track of time, and pretend like the rest of the world didn’t exist for a little while. He had been afraid of having to socialise and awkwardly interact with people who might not even like him, but with this many people around, that definitely wouldn’t be an issue.

“Why are there so many people?” Andrew yelled into his ear. “I thought this was just a gathering for the young people in town!”

“Who cares?” Stiles grinned right back, gesturing around them and almost hitting a girl square in the chest as he did so. “This is epic!”

“But how am I going to find Lorenzo?” Andrew insisted, looking around like a lost puppy and earning himself a comforting – and completely unsympathetic – pat on the back from Stiles. “I should have texted him before we walked in.”

“I’m sure you’ll find him just fine,” Stiles said exasperatedly. “Aren’t you two like… soulmates or something? I’m sure you’ll feel a pull in the crowd, stumble over your own two feet and end up in his arms like a damsel in distress. And _this_ means that I can avoid Derek if I want to, and maybe even find someone just as attractive as him to spend the night with me and woo me with the infamous British charm.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s not a thing,” Andrew said loudly, but Stiles was done listening to Andrew talk about his amazing potential boyfriend, and he was done thinking about Derek Hale, and he was done moping around whilst he could be making friends and dancing and enjoying the holidays he had been so nicely given.

“Go find your man, Andrew, and don’t forget your promise!” Stiles didn’t wait for an answer, already plastering himself to the closest stranger and grinning as he let the music take him away from his friends. He could see Alec and Andrew glancing around uncertainly and was suddenly hit with the gleeful thought that even though he had been the most reluctant to spend the evening out, _he_ was going to be the one who enjoyed it the most.

He wasn’t sure how long he spent dancing, completely bypassing the bar for the moment. Instead, he curled his hands around strangers’ hips and swayed along to the beat, enjoying the feeling of sweat dripping down his neck and of warm breaths ghosting against the shell of his ear. He felt more at ease than he had since they had gotten to Hawkhurst and, by the time he decided to take a break and grab a drink at the bar, he was smiling widely and had completely forgotten about Derek Hale.

Which was, of course, when he happened upon the man.

Even in the darkness of the bar, even covered in a slight sheen of sweat, even with his hair slightly too messy to be considered appropriate, Derek was still the most beautiful person Stiles had ever seen. He was leaning against the bar, talking to a gorgeous young woman who Stiles _really_ hoped wasn’t his girlfriend, and Stiles felt himself falling a little deeper in love, which was ridiculous because he didn’t even know the man.

Stiles wasn’t even a romantic at heart, for god’s sake, or at least he hadn’t been until his heart had apparently decided that love at first sight was a thing. It wasn’t a thing, it really wasn’t, but Stiles rarely had control over his own feelings, and mysterious but attractive men definitely didn’t help.

For a moment, he thought about fleeing. He didn’t really need a drink anyways, had just wanted a break, and he could always come back later, when Derek wasn’t in the way. But Stiles had never been a coward, especially not when it came to men, and he wasn’t about to start now.

He sidled up to the pair of locals with a wide smile on his face and ignored the painful pang of his heart when Derek only looked at him impassively, as though he had never seen him before.

“Well hello there,” the redhead next to Derek grinned. “I don’t believe I’ve ever seen you here before. Are you new?”

“In a way,” Stiles answered, chuckling when the woman’s eyes widened at the sound of his voice – and more specifically his accent. “I’m one of the unlucky men who ended up renting out the house at the edge of the town for a month. Although I’ll admit this place has a lot more appeal now that I know how many young and attractive people live here.”

“Oh, you’re Stiles, aren’t you?” The redhead exclaimed, her eyes lighting up with genuine recognition and curiosity as she glanced between Derek and him. “Which means you’ve probably already met Derek, although it’s hard to tell given how forthcoming he is around pretty people. I’m Lydia Martin.”

Even though Alec had already told him about Lydia Martin and how beautiful she was – _if you’re into that kind of stuff_ , he had added, gesturing at his chest exaggeratedly – it was still a bit of a shock to see for himself how young and gorgeous their house’s owner was. Thankfully, Stiles managed to bring himself out of his daze after only a few seconds of silence, and immediately made up for his awkwardness by widening his smile and pressing a light kiss to the back of Lydia’s extended hand.

She rolled her eyes at him even as she giggled, and Stiles counted it as a win. Or at least he did until he caught a glimpse of Derek, glaring at him as though he had done something wrong. Stiles frowned slightly because he _knew_ Lydia was engaged, which meant Derek’s look had nothing to do with jealousy and everything to do with some inherent dislike for Stiles. Perfect.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lydia,” Stiles turned back towards the redhead, who was still staring at him as though he was an enigma. He would have been offended, but he did the same thing on a regular basis for his job and had grown used to people analysing him years ago. “I have to say, I’m enjoying my stay at your house a lot more than I thought I would. You’ve done a great job with the place.”

“Thank you,” Lydia preened, calling the bartender over and raising her eyebrows at Stiles in a way that made it clear she was expecting him to order. He had no idea whether this was something she did every time she met someone or if he had passed some sort of test without knowing it, but he wasn’t about to complain about a free drink. “You know, I always found it weird that most of the tourists we get are Americans who have no idea how to live outside of a big city. What is it about this town that makes them want to spend their vacation here?”

“It’s far from everything,” Stiles shrugged. “There’s a certain appeal to getting lost in the middle of nowhere for a while, especially when you have a busy job back in the States. I mean, it’s not the town I would have chosen personally, but Alec dislikes people, so this place is perfect for him. You’ve met Alec, right?”

“I have,” Lydia hummed, looking over the crowd and nodding to their left where – surprise – Alec was dancing with Magnus. He seemed completely lost and absolutely smitten, and Stiles couldn’t help the soft smile from spreading on his face. “You two are close, then?”

“Yeah,” Stiles murmured just loud enough for her to hear. Well, maybe Derek could hear as well, but he clearly wasn’t interested in joining the conversation. “He’s been my best friend ever since we entered the pre-FBI program, and he’s practically my brother at this point.”

“That’s nice,” Lydia said, levelling Derek with another meaningful look Stiles probably hadn’t been meant to catch. “Isn’t it, Derek?”

“Sure, Lydia, it’s nice,” Derek sighed. “Although I’m not the best person to talk to about brothers, as you very well know. Still, I suppose some people get along with their siblings.”

“God, could you be any more of a downer,” Lydia slapped him on the arm lightly, narrowing her eyes at him in what Stiles recognised was a ‘ _stop sulking, start talking_ ’ kind of way. He had shot it at Alec enough times to spot it anywhere, especially when it was directed at broody men who obviously had no interest in interacting with other people.

Frankly, Stiles wasn’t sure why Alec hadn’t chosen Derek over Magnus, when it was very clear that the former had a lot more in common with him than the latter. And sure, attraction wasn’t something that could be scientifically explained, and sometimes opposite attracted or whatnot, but still…

Who on earth would choose Magnus Bane – no matter how attractive the man clearly was – over Derek Hale? Stiles had only seen him three times in his life and he would already give anything for a morsel of his attention. Well, maybe not anything, because Stiles had _some_ dignity left, but the point still stood.

“Have you guys talked to him tonight?” Stiles asked as politely as possible, hoping none of the bitterness he felt in his very soul bled out into his voice. “Alec, I mean. He was supposed to come find me to introduce me to Magnus, and he probably thought I would be at the bar, so…”

“He did stop by briefly,” Lydia nodded. “But Magnus and he were too busy making heart-eyes at each other to really talk to us, so I’m going to have to drag your friend out _again_ in order to get all the gossip I need.”

“I can do gossip,” Stiles piped up, regretting his words as soon as they left his mouth. Was there any way he could have come off as _more_ desperate for friends? “I mean, I’m always free to talk if you want someone to hang out with, although I completely understand if you would rather stick to Alec.”

“As tempting as your offer is,” Lydia laughed lightly, and Stiles was relieved when he didn’t hear a single note of mockery in her tone. “I’m afraid I’m looking for a particular piece of information, and I’m not sure you could help me with it, no matter how good you are at your job.”

Stiles huffed in mock offence, but he knew better than to get frustrated over such a little thing. He had learned to pick up on social cues years ago, and nothing about Lydia’s behaviour indicated that she disliked him. In fact, he would go as far as to say she was intrigued by him, and probably wanted to spend more time with him outside of the aforementioned gossip, which meant he still had a chance of making a friend out of her.

“You won’t be missing out on much.”

Stiles startled at the sound of Derek’s voice. He had completely forgotten – or mostly forgotten at least, since his body was a whole other story – the man was there and listening in on their conversation. Not that he was really listening in, since Stiles was the one who had crashed his moment with Lydia in the first place, but he had been so quiet that Stiles hadn’t thought to include him in their discussion.

Maybe there was a reason why he hadn’t been able to go on a successful date with anyone in months – years? Had it been years?

“Oh please, you’re just jealous because I prefer gossiping with Lorenzo than with you,” Lydia scoffed, grinning mischievously when Derek glowered at her. “Speaking of, I think I just saw him with your other partner in crime, Stiles, and I’ve been wanting to say hello to them all night. You have my number, right? Call me so we can plan something other than gossip at some point. Or gossip of another kind than the one I have in mind with Alec. Just… Call me, alright?”

Stiles nodded, trying to take in the whirlwind that was Lydia Martin as she grabbed her drink, pushed the other one towards Stiles, and sauntered away from them with a wink. Stiles really needed to rethink his expectations of Hawkhurst because so far, none of them had been correct.

He was so busy thinking about Lydia and this town and all the things he wanted to find out about whilst he was staying there, that he only realised Derek and he were alone together when he reached out for his drink and almost knocked his elbow into the other man’s ribs. Derek raised an unimpressed eyebrow at him and Stiles almost blushed, but then he just shrugged unapologetically and took a sip of his cocktail.

If Derek didn’t want to get bumped by the people around him, maybe he should try talking. Or at least making a sound and looking a little less like a statue. Although he did make for an attractive statue, Stiles had to admit.

“So…” Stiles started eloquently, biting back a wince when Derek didn’t even turn to look at him as he spoke. “How are you liking your time back in Hawkhurst? I don’t want to sound like a creep who knows everything about your life, but I _am_ a special agent, and my best friends are sort of dating your brothers, so I’ve heard a few things and I know you don’t live here anymore and- Anyways, is it strange being back in your hometown?”

“It’s fine,” Derek grunted, proving that he truly was a man of few words. Or maybe he wasn’t and just didn’t want to talk to Stiles. Which was a shame because now that Stiles had started talking, it would take a while for him to get distracted enough to leave Derek alone. He blamed his brain.

“You know, that’s what I thought too, at first,” Stiles said, deciding that as long as Derek didn’t actively try to get him to shut up – and wasn’t that a thought – there was no harm in keeping the conversation going. “This place doesn’t have much, but it’s also not terrible, so… It’s _fine_. But then I got to thinking, and I met a few people here tonight, and there’s a lot more life to this town than I originally thought, and I can appreciate that. I wouldn’t move here, of course, but it could honestly be a lot worse. Although I’m guessing growing up here might make things different for you. I know my feelings for _my_ hometown are complicated.”

He waited for a few minutes, wanting to see if Derek would contribute to their discussion or at least grumble something underneath his breath, but Stiles was only greeted with the sound of silence. Or as much silence as he could get in a bar packed with people and drowning in music. Well then, never let it be said that Stiles Stilinski couldn’t hold up a one-sided conversation; he was ridiculously persistent when he wanted to be.

And, even though his chances at becoming friends or something more with Derek were practically non-existent, he couldn’t help but want to get to know the man. Damn his suddenly romantic heart.

“Where do you live now, if you don’t mind me asking?” Stiles inquired, resting his head in his hands and his elbows on the bar as he waited for Derek’s answer. A glint of amusement and mischief sparked in the man’s eyes, and Stiles decided to cut _that_ off before it could start. Banter was a huge turn-on for him, and he really didn’t want to get an uncomfortable boner when his best friends could show up at any given moment. “Don’t you dare say the States, Hale. I want a state or a city, or even a town if you think I might recognise it.”

“How did you know I was going to…?” For the first time that night, Derek truly _looked_ at Stiles, and Stiles couldn’t even be annoyed that it was because of his observational skills, since he had worked so hard to perfect them.

“It’s kind of my job,” he explained with a shrug, before gesturing for Derek to answer his question.

“California,” the man finally admitted, sounding like it physically pained him to tell Stiles about his life. “Around San Francisco.”

“Seriously?” Stiles gaped. “That’s where I’m from! How long have you lived there for?”

“10 years,” Derek sighed, and Stiles’ eyes widened even more. He had spent at least five years of his life living in the same area as Derek, and Fate hadn’t thought to put them in each other’s paths before? Sometimes the world was a cruel place to live in. “I don’t know if I’ll stay there forever, but it’s a lot better than this place. You said Lightwood chose it for you, right?”

“Yeah, Alec,” Stiles said, deflating slightly at the mention of his best friend. He had completely forgotten about Derek’s clear preference for Alec over him, and the reminder stung more than he cared to admit. He downed his drink, ignoring Derek’s startled look, and prayed he wouldn’t do anything too stupid by the time the night was over. “So, doesn’t it bother you to see how close he and your brother are? Magnus, I mean, since that Lorenzo guy clearly prefers Andrew.”

“Why would it bother me?” Derek answered in apparent confusion. Stiles knew better than that, though, since he had leaned in closer just in time to notice the way Derek tensed at the question. “Magnus is free to flirt with whoever he wants. Besides, he could do a lot worse than Alec.”

“Yeah,” Stiles pouted, glancing over at his best friend, who had gotten closer to the bar but had yet to look away from Magnus. “It’s easy to see why people like him so much. I mean, he’s handsome and tall and pretty, and he’s got these hazel eyes that are to die for, and on top of that he’s smart and kind and all sorts of good things. Of course people like him.”

“I suppose I can see the appeal,” Derek shrugged, and Stiles could only gape at the _audacity_ of the man. “I mean, he’s just not my type.”

“Not your type?” Stiles cried out indignantly, waving the bartender over to pour him another drink and ignoring Derek’s slightly judgemental look. If the man didn’t want to drink, fine, but that didn’t mean Stiles wasn’t allowed to get a little tipsy himself. “Look, buddy, Alec is everyone’s type. He’s the best person you’ll ever meet, and he deserves the best in return. He’s got everything a guy could want in a boyfriend, including a protective streak a mile wide, and I honestly fail to see how he couldn’t be your type. I mean, look at you two, you would be _perfect_ together.”

Derek stared at him incredulously for a few moments, and Stiles wondered what he could have possibly said that had shocked him so much.

“You think- _You_ think Alec and I would be perfect together,” Derek drawled, his tone just shy of condescending. Or maybe frustrated, Stiles wasn’t sure. Maybe he was slightly more drunk than he had anticipated he would get, and it was too late to turn back now.

“Did I fucking stutter?” Stiles asked, refraining from rolling his eyes. “Yes, I think you and Alec would be perfect together. What could possibly go wrong with two hot, broody, slightly antisocial dudes getting together?”

“You mean, besides the fact that your friend is currently trying to date my brother?” Derek’s eyebrows seemed to be stuck to his forehead, and Stiles hated that he still looked handsome, even with that ridiculous expression plastered on his face. “Have you never heard about the phrase oppos-”

“Opposite attract, yes, yes, I get that,” Stiles huffed. “But come on, man, _Alec_. What’s not to like about him? Except for the whole brother thing, but I’m sure you could call dibs since you met him first. Although I think Alec really likes this Magnus, which doesn’t make any sense because you’re right there and you’re… Well, you’re you. You know, you’re a lot less scary from up close.”

“I was scary from afar?” Derek frowned, making Stiles want to take his last statement back because he was definitely still scary, even when their faces were only a few inches away from each other.

And when had _that_ happened?

“Not terrifying or anything, but definitely a little intimidating,” Stiles explained, letting his arms flail in Derek’s general direction as he tried to wave at the other man’s body. “You’ve got the whole muscle, beard, intense eyes combo going for you, which means it’s a little hard not to find you threatening at first. Don’t worry though, I’m completely past that. Definitely not scared anymore.”

“You know, you’re not half as good at lying as you seem to think you are,” Derek chuckled. Stiles would have taken offence to such a statement under any other circumstances, but Derek had just _laughed_ , and there was a smile playing at his lips, and his eyes had lightened considerably as he spoke, and Stiles couldn’t focus on anything other than that unfairly beautiful face. “Are you alright?”

“I’m not sure,” Stiles sighed. “Is there such a thing as beauty paralysis? Not as in ‘ _oh I’m so hot I can’t even move in fear of disrupting my hotness_ ’, because that’s never been a problem for me, but more of a ‘ _oh shit he’s so hot I’m not sure I can move_ ’ kind of way. Do you think that exists?”

“Some people would call it a crush,” Derek said unhelpfully. “Or sexual tension, depending on whether or not the feeling of helplessness is requited. In your case, I’m willing to lean towards the latter.”

Stiles had no idea what Derek was talking about, because his lips were less than an inch away from Stiles’, and they were gorgeous and Stiles wanted to kiss them, but he was pretty sure he would fall off his stool if he tried something like that. Or Derek would push him off. Either way, it would only end in injury for him, and he would rather avoid that before he had had the time to go to the beach.

“Stiles,” Derek said softly, catching his gaze as he lifted his chin with two gentle fingers. Stiles all but melted into the touch, and suddenly his brain couldn’t remember why a kiss was a bad idea and he was leaning in, and he could feel Derek’s breath against his mouth and- “Stiles, woah, slow down.”

_That_ broke him out of his drunken trance. Or at least out of his alcohol-induce Derek trance, because he was pretty sure the drunkenness would get worse before it would get better. Still, Derek’s words had been enough to make him realise he had been about to do something ridiculously stupid, and he jerked away from the other man as though he had been burned.

This wasn’t how the evening was supposed to go. He had wanted to forget about Derek and how perfect he and Alec would be together. He had wanted to dance and drink and find someone just as attractive as Derek to make him feel alive. He had wanted so many things, but a conversation with Derek Hale and a clumsy attempt at kissing weren’t on the list.

Although his heart clearly wanted them on the list, no matter how bad of an idea both of those things had been. All he had gotten was rejection and the likelihood of a terrible hangover the next day.

“Alright, you look like you’re freaking out,” Derek huffed, shaking his head slowly. “Come on, let’s get you out of here. You need some rest and some air, and you’re not going to get either of those in a crowded bar.”

Because of course Derek was a gentleman even after Stiles had embarrassed himself forever. Of course he was the kind of man who – just like Alec – took his friends home and made sure they were alright and knew what to do when they were too drunk to look after themselves. It was unfair, really, for two men to have so many wonderful things in common, and for neither of them to want someone like Stiles.

He wasn’t usually the type to get sad when he was drunk, but he had had a long day and Derek was looking at him with those stunning eyes of his, and Stiles was more than a little bit gone for this man, and he felt _miserable_. Well, maybe miserable was an exaggeration, since Derek had one of his arms secured around Stiles’ waist, and he was rubbing soothing circles into the small of his back, and things could have been a lot worse, but still sulky enough to not want to talk.

Which was why he almost groaned out loud when Derek decided that _he_ was suddenly in the mood to have a conversation. Thankfully, he seemed just as comfortable as Stiles had been to hold up his side of the talk without getting anything in return, so Stiles let the man’s deep voice soothe his drunk mind as Derek dragged him across the town in the house’s direction.

“When my siblings were younger,” Derek was telling him as they walked up the driveway and towards the front door. “Well, when we were all younger, Lydia used to sneak us into the bar, even though she was the youngest of our group along with Maia. The thing was, she knew everyone in town, and they had all fallen in love with her at some point and getting us into places we weren’t supposed to be was all too easy for her. I spent more nights than I care to admit at the Hunter’s Moon, getting a little too drunk for my age. My point is, it’s completely okay to be drunk and do slightly stupid things, and it’s okay to regret them tomorrow. Although it’s also okay _not_ to regret them.”

Stiles frowned slightly, because he had a feeling Derek was trying to tell him something but completely failing at getting his message across. Usually, he would have been able to glance at the man’s body language and know what was going on, but he was tired and drunk and distracted by Derek’s hands on his body, so he was going to have to let it slide this one time.

He would ask him about it later, when he was less intoxicated and likely to make a fool of himself.

“Can I trust you to get inside safely?” Derek’s voice broke him out of his contemplations, and Stiles nodded surely as he took out his keys and inserted them into the lock, letting out a small cry of victory as he opened the door on his first try. It wasn’t that much of an accomplishment, but it was proof that he wasn’t _too_ drunk.

(Or proof that Alec’s lessons on muscle memory were finally paying off.)

“I’ll be fine, D’rek,” Stiles smiled dopily, his sleepy instincts taking over his drunk instincts now that he knew there was a bed nearby. He needed to get inside before he passed out in front of Derek, because the last thing he needed was Derek in his bedroom.

Derek in his bedroom was a _terrible_ idea.

“I’ll call Alec tomorrow, alright?” Derek said, and Stiles felt his stomach sink again at the reminder that Derek hadn’t cared enough to get his number. Not the first time they had met, and not this time either.

He would check in on Stiles, but he would only do it through Alec. Stiles should have been grateful to even get that much, but he was feeling decidedly romantic and more than a little annoyed at his friends for having found their perfect matches whilst Stiles was left to pine after someone like _Derek Hale_. He felt like he was justified in his little bit of frustration. Sure, it was petty, but it was definitely justified.

“Good night, Stiles,” Derek breathed out, brushing a stray strand of hair out of Stiles’ eyes as the younger man backed into the house. His breath caught at the movement, but he refused to think about the different things that single touch could have meant. Instead, he focused on Derek’s words and remembered to wish him a good night just before he closed the door on the other man’s face.

Not the politest way of dismissing someone, but he supposed it did the trick. Besides, it wasn’t like Derek would have done anything else had the door stayed open, right?

Right. Stiles nodded to himself, feeling better now that there was a wall separating Derek and him. At least he thought he felt better, although it might have just been a side effect the sudden wave of fatigue that hit him as he trudged towards his bedroom.

As he closed the door behind himself and tried to think back on his evening and everything he had done wrong, he was surprised to realise the only thing he could focus on were fingers trailing down his cheek in a tender touch, and a bright smile aimed at him – and solely him.

He fell asleep with those memories on his mind, hoping he wouldn’t have forgotten about them by the time the sun rose.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya guys! Thank you so much for reading! I'm sorry for the slight delay with this chapter, between my wrist and the fact that this chapter is a lot longer than usual (oops) it took longer than I thought it would to get it up. On a bright note, though, it's probably my favourite chapter so far, so I hope you all enjoyed it too! 
> 
> Love, Junie.


	7. Chapter 7

Alec woke up with a start, rubbing blearily at his eyes to try and dispel the haziness clinging to his gaze.

He wasn’t where he was supposed to be. Or, more specifically, he wasn’t in his room at the rented house, which made him feel like he wasn’t where he was supposed to be. However, the bed was warm and the pillow next to his was rumpled, and the sheets smelled suspiciously like Magnus, which meant maybe he was _exactly_ where he was meant to be. After all, when was Magnus ever-

_Magnus_.

Alec looked down at himself and almost wept of relief when he realised he was still dressed in the clothes he had been wearing the previous night. It wasn’t a guarantee that he and Magnus hadn’t done anything… heated, but it was definitely better than if Alec had woken up naked.

Not that he didn’t want to sleep with Magnus, of course, because who _wouldn’t_ want to sleep with Magnus. The thing was, they hadn’t even kissed. Or at least Alec couldn’t remember kissing Magnus – who knew what had happened the night before? – and he really wanted to go on a date with the other man before they did anything more. Anything more than what they had already done, since Alec had somehow managed to find himself sharing a bed with Magnus after the night at the bar.

God, what on earth had he done to get himself black-out drunk?

“I was starting to think you wouldn’t wake up in time for brunch.”

Alec’s head snapped up and he smiled sheepishly at Magnus, who was looking at him with something akin to fondness written all over his face. The man looked relaxed but still as composed as ever, although he had forgone his usually extravagant make-up for a more subtle look. He still looked beautiful, and Alec felt his heart skip a beat at the downright divine sight of Magnus in the morning.

What he wouldn’t give to see it every day for the rest of his life.

“I guess I was a little tired,” Alec chuckled quietly. “When did we even get here? _How_ did we get here? And actually, where is _here_ exactly?”

“Lydia and Maia’s house,” Magnus answered promptly, taking a seat at the edge of the bed and smiling softly at the room around them. “I crash here almost every time we have a night out, since I’m always a tiny bit too drunk to drive. Lydia and Maia act as though they hate it, but I know they love having me around every once in a while. Besides, there was no way they were going to say no when they saw _you_.”

“Oh god,” Alec groaned. “How bad was it?”

“It depends on what you qualify as bad, Alexander,” Magnus laughed, his eyes lighting up with mirth. “I thought you were rather adorable, babbling about me and your friends and everything else that’s been on your mind lately. Although I have to say, I would have payed a little more attention to what you were drinking if I had known you were going to pass out on me.”

“I didn’t faint in your arms, did I?” Alec blanched, his mind flashing back to a conversation he had had with Stiles about their school years. It had been a while since he had gotten properly drunk, but his best friend had always told him he was ‘something else’ once he got some alcohol in his system, and Alec wasn’t sure it was a good thing.

“No, Alexander,” Magnus answered, biting down on his bottom lip in what Alec assumed was his attempt to stave off another round of laughter. “You waited until we were in bed to do that, but you were barely conscious by the time we got you here. Really, I’m sorry we weren’t more careful with your drinks. I assumed you went out a fair amount and forgot not everyone in the world parties as much as I do.”

“It’s fine,” Alec waved his concerns away, ignoring the butterflies fluttering in his stomach at the thought of Magnus worrying about him and wanting to take care of him and becoming even more and more perfect as time passed. “If anyone’s to blame here, it’s me. I know I’m terrible when it comes to alcohol, and I should have stopped myself before things got too messy. I just hope I didn’t say anything too embarrassing whilst I was out of it.”

“Depends on what you would call embarrassing,” Magnus grinned. The mischievous look on his face set Alec on edge, and he knew better than to push for details. What he had said to Magnus didn’t matter as long as he didn’t remember his own words. As soon as he found out, however, he would have to deal with the consequences of his irresponsibly actions. And really, he would rather avoid that for as long as physically possible.

“So…” He said slowly, digging through his mind for an appropriate distraction and perking up at the smell of eggs and waffles in the background. “Did I hear you say something about brunch?”

“If you think you’re being subtle,” Magnus shook his head, his lips quirked into a smirk, but he thankfully didn’t say anything more about Alec’s drunken adventures. “But yes, the girls are just finishing up the food for brunch and wanted me to come check on you, see if you wanted to join us and all that. You don’t have to feel obligated, and I completely understand if you would rather spend the morning with your friends, but just know you’re welcome.”

“And you want me there?” Alec asked, just to make sure he wasn’t misinterpreting anything. “Not just Lydia and Maia, right? You want me there too?”

“Alexander,” Magnus huffed. “Of course I want you there. Trust me, if it were up to Maia and Lydia, we would have already been kicked out so they could enjoy their private time together. But since I’m also in the equation, and they want to make a good impression on you…”

“Well then, I’ve never been one to say no to a free meal,” Alec smiled brightly, wincing as he stood up and realised just how sweaty his shirt had gotten. It wasn’t that he had a thing against sweat per say, but Lydia and Maia weren’t the only ones who wanted to make a good impression. “Do you think…?”

Magnus was throwing a shirt in his direction before he even had the time to finish his question, and Alec only blinked down at it for a few seconds before pulling it on, ignoring the way his heart fluttered at the thought of wearing _Magnus’_ clothes. He had never been the type to share his belongings with his partners, no matter how much he liked them, but Magnus seemed to be the exception to many of Alec’s pre-set rules.

The clothes didn’t fit him perfectly, but Magnus certainly didn’t mind, if the way he was eyeing Alec’s chest and arms was anything to go by.

“Lesser men would have given in to temptation by now, darling,” Magnus purred as he straightened his own shirt and quickly fixed his hair – not that it needed any fixing in the first place. “Now come on, let’s go find my sisters before they steal all the food for themselves. Maia tends to be ravenous in the mornings, and I _know_ Lydia made her scrambled eggs, which I really don’t want to miss.”

“That good?” Alec raised his eyebrows as Magnus led him out of the bedroom and into a beautifully decorated hallway. Alec wasn’t sure what he had expected from two young women like Maia and Lydia, but it hadn’t been a house as well-kept and as _big_ as the one they clearly lived in.

“Impressive, huh?” Magnus chuckled. “They inherited it from Lydia’s parents and were too attached to the place to get something smaller, even though we all know it’s a tad too large for a young couple.”

“Not if they intend to fill it up in the near future,” Alec shrugged. They certainly wouldn’t be the first twenty-something year olds to adopt or foster a few children, especially given their background. “You haven’t told me much about your sisters but from what I can tell, your family is pretty involved in the foster system.”

“Yeah,” Magnus snorted. “You have no idea just _how_ involved. The girls will probably regale you with their love story, so be ready for that and ignore anything and everything they might have to say about me.”

“Not going to happen,” Alec grinned, thinking about the research Stiles was undoubtedly leading in the darkness of his bedroom. “I’m going to need a few funny stories to make up for whatever dark secrets Stiles and Andrew dig up in their spare time.”

“In their… Why _Alexander_ , you didn’t tell me that your friends took advantage of their jobs and skillsets to vet your partners,” Magnus’ eyebrows flew up. Alec would have been worried about his reaction if the other man didn’t look so impressed at his friends’ weird overprotective tendencies.

(Not that he was one to speak, since he did the same thing for them in return and had already gotten a hold of Lorenzo Rey’s contact information, just to be safe.)

“It’s become a bit of a bad habit of ours,” Alec shrugged as they reached the bottom floor and spilled into an airy but tasteful kitchen. He could tell Magnus wanted to question him some more, only holding back because of the two women who had perked up at their appearance.

“Alec!” Lydia exclaimed, looking just as bright and beautiful as she had when he had first met her. “I’m so glad you decided to join us. Not that you really had a say in the matter, since I would have dragged your ass here if you had tried to sneak out. Martin rules are strict; if you sleep in the house, you eat in the house.”

“She’s right,” Magnus sighed. “It’s been that way for as long as I can remember, which was particularly bothersome when we were all still in high school. The amount of boyfriends and girlfriends who went through this kitchen and had to sit through painfully awkward morning-after conversations… I still have nightmares about the time with Isaac. The kid was sweet, but _god_ did Natalie hate him.”

“She was just worried about Lorenzo,” Maia rolled her eyes. “Can you blame her? He barely had any friends, and she wanted to make sure Isaac wasn’t just another one of those people who tried to take advantage of his inheritance. I thought it was rather sweet.”

“You didn’t think it was sweet when the tables were turned on _you_ ,” Lydia grinned sharply.

Alec, who had been feeling like he was missing half of the conversation, finally regained his ability to _thing_ and caught on to what the three other people in the room were hinting at. They had all grown up in the same house, not because they were all foster children, but because they were all the _Martins_ ’ foster children.

“Oh my god,” Alec gaped, looking between Maia and Lydia with wide eyes. He wasn’t sure what the protocol behind foster siblings dating was, but he could easily imagine how disastrous the reveal must have been for the Martin parents.

“Oh yeah,” Magnus snickered, completely ignoring Lydia and Maia’s matching death glares. “Biggest scandal this town has ever seen. We were all questioned by Natalie, asked about the relationship, it was a whole mess. No one wanted to accuse them of doing something wrong, but there were worries about power imbalances and a whole other load of issues.”

“I’m pretty sure my parents would have killed me if I had broken up with Maia at the end of it all,” Lydia said, her eyes turning fond as she gazed at her fiancée. “Not that I would ever have even thought about it, given how perfect she is. Do you know how hard it is to find a person better than Maia Roberts? It’s impossible.”

“I don’t know,” Alec piped up, blushing even before he spoke. “I think Magnus isn’t too bad.”

The man in question glanced at him with something akin to surprise and warmth wrapped all in one, but Maia and Lydia looked like they thoroughly approved, so Alec wasn’t going to linger on his own stupid thoughts too much.

“Well, you could definitely do a lot worse than Magnus, that’s for sure,” Maia hummed. “Oh my god, I haven’t even introduced myself, have I? I’m so sorry, I tend to get distracted by food when Lydia puts something in front of me, although that’s no excuse for me being a terrible host.”

“You’re not a terrible host, babe,” Lydia huffed, swatting the back of her fiancée’s head. “Besides, it’s not like Alec attempted to introduce himself either, so you’re on even footing here. But if you really want to get it out of the way… Alec, this is my fiancée and Magnus’ sister, Maia Roberts. Maia, this is Alec Lightwood, one of our current American tourists.”

“And Magnus’ FBI agent,” Maia tacked on, grinning at her brother when he rolled her eyes at her and snagged a pastry off her plate. “Hey!”

“Older sibling privileges, pup,” Magnus stuck his tongue out. Alec couldn’t help but be completely endeared by this side of Magnus. He hadn’t really known what to expect from Magnus and his siblings, but this was absolutely _wonderful_. “Now sit and enjoy the food your fiancée so graciously provided us with.”

“I’m already sitting and enjoying,” Maia snarked. “You and your boyfriend are the ones who have yet to join us.”

“Not my boyfriend,” Magnus corrected, although Alec hadn’t missed the way he had perked up at the appellation. He wasn’t quite as observant as Stiles, but he had _eyes_ , thank you very much.

“Not yet,” Lydia beamed, winking conspiratorially at Alec, who promptly turned a deep shade of red and carefully avoided Magnus’ gaze as he sat gingerly next to Lydia, across from Maia. The strange seating arrangement didn’t escape his attention, but he decided not to comment on it.

If Magnus’ sisters wanted to interrogate their brother’s potential partner, who was he to get in their way?

“So… FBI?” Maia started innocently, her eyes never leaving the croissant in her hands as she spoke. “That must be an interesting job. It must keep you busy too, you probably travel a lot, right?”

“I travel a fair amount,” Alec answered honestly, because there was no way to get around that specific issue. “I’m pretty highly ranked and have a team of my own, which means I can’t really get out of field work. Not that I’m complaining, since it’s exactly what I joined the force to do in the first place. The work is tiring, but definitely worth it.”

“But you’re not in the States much?” Lydia took over for her fiancée. Unlike Maia, she was staring straight at Alec, clearly willing to cut straight to the chase. “Because as nice as I’m sure long-distance relationships can be, Magnus doesn’t have the best track record with keeping his hands off his partners.”

“Ah, right, well-” Alec stuttered. Honestly, he hadn’t been thinking about life after England, although maybe he should have been, since he was already so damned attracted to Magnus. “I’m actually in the States more often than not. Yes, I travel, but missions are usually only a few days long except when there’s a bigger case to deal with, and they’re very rarely international problems. The only times I really have to leave the country is when one of our targets decides to take a trip to the Bahamas or something equally as stupid.”

“But will you ever find the time to be in New York?” Maia pressed him on, and Alec faltered for a moment. “Seriously, if you can’t even-”

“Maia, please,” Magnus interrupted his sister, narrowing his eyes at her dangerously. “Alec and I haven’t even gone on our first date yet, so maybe you can save all those questions for later? Or better yet, maybe you could let Alec and I deal with those issues when and if they crop up in the future.”

“Sparkles has a point,” Lydia said softly, resting her hand on top of Maia’s and glancing apologetically at Alec. “I’m sorry, it’s just not often that one of our brothers finds someone they’re genuinely interested in, and now…”

“Now we’ve got two who are in love and one who’s pining from afar,” Maia sighed. “Sorry, Alec, I’m not handling this as well as I could be. It’s nothing against you, I swear, it’s just that Magnus and the other boys haven’t had the best track record with relationships, and I want to make sure they don’t have to go through another heartbreak any time soon.”

“And I appreciate it,” Magnus smiled. “But maybe we should leave all the heavy topics aside for the time being. I’m sure Alec would much rather hear about my embarrassing childhood and teenage years than answer questions about his intentions and his life in the States. He came here for a break, not an interrogation.”

Thankfully, neither Lydia nor Maia decided to push their initial train of thought, and the four of them slipped into an easy conversation about Magnus’ embarrassing middle school moments, as well as a fair few about the rest of the Martin siblings, as they had apparently been dubbed at the time.

“It just made sense,” Lydia shrugged when Alec asked about it. “Maia kept her last name, but the other three didn’t have any when they were placed in the foster system, or at least none they wanted to keep, so they took my last name for a while. And now I’m finally going to claim the only one who constantly resisted our attempts at making her a fully-fledged Martin.”

“I’m only doing it because I love your parents,” Maia pouted, but her gaze was nothing short of adoring, and Alec knew she would have taken Lydia’s last name whether or not the redhead’s parents had raised her. “And because Lydia Roberts doesn’t sound half as cool as Maia Martin.”

“I still can’t believe our pup is all grown up,” Magnus wiped away fake tears and burst into giggles when Maia poked his ribs in revenge. “Seriously, your wedding is going to be the event of the year, maybe even the decade. How on earth is Hawkhurst ever going to get over this?”

“Oh, they’ll move on,” Lydia huffed. “They always do. You know how this town is, Magnus, they’ll find another wedding or couple to focus on and we’ll be forgotten. Besides, when have the Martins _not_ been the talk of the town? We’ve both gotten used to it. It comes with the territory.”

“The Hawkhurst territory?” Magnus raised his eyebrows, although Alec had a feeling the girls weren’t too far off the mark in their assessment. Wandering around the town, he hadn’t found a single person who hadn’t mentioned the Martins to him, and he had crossed _plenty_ of people.

“Exactly,” Maia grinned wolfishly in her brother’s direction. “Best territory in the world, Sparkles.”

Before anyone could say anything to _that_ particular statement and possibly start a war on the merits of the States versus the merits of England, Alec’s phone rang loudly and interrupted their peaceful breakfast. He glanced down at his screen and frowned when Derek Hale’s – of all people – Caller ID blinked up at him.

“I have to take this,” he grimaced apologetically, picking up the phone without waiting for any of his companions to react. “Derek, hi.”

Three pairs of eyebrows flew up at the greeting, and Alec would have smiled amusedly if it wasn’t the scariest thing he had ever seen. The Martin were intimidating enough on their own, but when they were in sync? Alec suddenly understood why his teachers had told him to stay away from his siblings around other children. There was something inherently disturbing about a trio of people staring at you with identical expressions plastered on their faces.

“ _Alec, I’m so sorry to bother you, but I was wondering if you were at the house right now?_ ” There was a hint of something Alec couldn’t quite identify in the other man’s voice, something close to concern or worry or urgency. It was enough to have Alec straightening in his seat. As far as he remembered, Derek and Stiles had spent a good portion of their night together, which meant that-

“Is Stiles alright?” He frowned, suddenly feeling awfully guilty for having forgotten about his friends. Andrew had probably spent the night with Lorenzo, but who knew what Stiles had been up to in the meantime?

“ _That’s why I’m calling, actually_ ,” Derek said softly. “ _I dropped Stiles off at the house last night, but he was drunk and pretty out of it, and I promised I would call you to check up on him, so… I don’t think anything bad has happened to him, but he probably has one hell of a hangover and a little bit of confusion over the end of the evening. He looked like he was seconds from passing out._ ”

“Yeah, Stiles and I really aren’t the best when it comes to alcohol,” Alec winced. “But thank you for telling me. I’m at your sisters’ house right now, but I can make it back in less than fifteen minutes if I hurry, I’m pretty sure. I’ll send you an update as soon as I see him, alright?”

“ _Alright, thanks Alec,”_ Derek breathed out, sounding more relieved than a simple friend or acquaintance should have. Unbidden, Alec’s mind flashed back to Andrew’s teasing words from the day before. Maybe there _was_ a way all three of them would find love with a Martin brother after all.

“Thank _you_ , Derek, seriously,” Alec answered after a brief lull in their exchange. “I’m not sure Stiles would have made it back safely, and it means a lot to me that you took the time to get him home. I’m sure he’ll be very happy to hear about it too, if he doesn’t remember.”

“ _Right, yeah, no problem_ ,” Derek said. “ _I’ll see you around, Alec_.”

He hung up before Alec could say anything else, leaving Alec slightly dazed as he glanced at Magnus’ inquiring gaze.

“My brother has your number?” He asked and, although it didn’t sound accusing, Alec couldn’t help but grimace slightly at the tense tone he could detect in Magnus’ voice. “I wasn’t even aware the two of you had really talked beyond that first meeting at the house.”

“We haven’t,” Alec hastened to say, not liking the narrowed-eyed looks Maia and Lydia were sending him. It had been bad enough when Stiles had believed something was going on between Derek and him; this was even worse. “Seriously, I’ve only talked to Derek once, and the only reason he called is because he wanted to know how Stiles was feeling this morning. Nothing more. Besides, who on earth would try to flirt with two brothers at once?”

“Plenty of people,” Maia snickered, dodging Magnus’ elbow as the man aimed it towards her stomach. “You’d be surprised at how many people thought they could get away with double-timing the Martin siblings. They found it hilarious, thought of it as a challenge, but they all got what they deserved in the end, just as you will if I find out your intentions towards Derek are anything other than friendly.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Alec forced himself to smile. “But I really do have to go. Andrew’s probably with brother number 2, and I don’t want Stiles to wake up alone, without medicine, and think we’ve abandoned him for a night with our partners.”

“Even though that’s exactly what you did,” Lydia said teasingly, laughing when Alec turned yet another shade of red. “Just kidding, Alec, go see your friend. And don’t forget that the wedding is in three weeks.”

“The wedding… Wait, _the_ wedding?” Alec’s eyes bugged out of his head. “We’re invited? How do you even know we’ll still be around by then?”

“Lydia knows everything,” Maia chuckled. “And yes, _the_ wedding. You may not have an official invitation, but I happen to know one of my brothers is very interested in taking you as his plus one, and your friends will undoubtedly find dates as well, probably in the form of two other Martin siblings.”

“Right,” Alec said, trying to hide his giddiness at the thought of he and Magnus being serious enough to last three weeks, and maybe even more. “Yeah, I’ll definitely be there. And thank you for the brunch, the food was lovely and the company even better.”

“Oh, you’ve got yourself a flatterer, Magnus,” Lydia grinned. “Now go see your man out, and make sure he takes his clothes with him. The last thing I want is more laundry to take care of, especially since I already know the boys are going to be bringing their stuff here once they realise their hotels’ laundromats suck.”

Alec would have loved to find out more about the Martin family dynamics, and particularly about the two men Andrew and Stiles had grown attached to, but he had a friend to check up on, and he would rather be with Stiles than with the Martins, no matter how kind they were.

So he said his goodbyes and didn’t protest when Magnus rushed upstairs to grab his clothes, coming back down in less than a minute and directing him to the front door. It wasn’t like they had been on a date or anything. They had just… Spent the night together, and slept in the same bed, and had a wonderful breakfast with his sisters, and proved that their chemistry was just as obvious when they were surrounded by other people as when they were alone.

“Would you like to go out with me?” Alec blurted out before he could talk himself out of it. He knew he was probably blushing again, but he was almost certain he hadn’t imagined the attraction between the two of them, and he had never been one to back out of a perfect situation. “On a date, I mean.”

“Yes, Alexander,” Magnus laughed lightly. “I would love to go out on a date with you. It seems we’re both going to be stuck in this town for a while longer, so why not make the most of it? You have my number, so feel free to text me when you want to meet up and I’ll try to clear my busy schedule for you.”

“Right, perfect,” Alec grinned, not even caring that Maia and Lydia were probably eavesdropping on their conversation. “I’ll try not to make you wait too long. Wouldn’t want you to think that I’ve run off with your brother, after all.”

“Oh please, as if Derek stands a chance against me,” Magnus huffed, a devious glint sparking in his gaze as his eyes dropped down to Alec’s mouth.

Before Alec could so much as react, Magnus pressed their lips together in an achingly gentle kiss, stepping away just as quickly, a small and content smile on his face. He looked as beautiful as he had every other time Alec had seen him, but he had to admit there was something even more satisfying about the look on Magnus’ face after a kiss. A _kiss_.

“I’d like to see him beat that,” Magnus winked, and then the door was shutting in Alec’s face and he was left unable to do anything other than stare at the offending wall now separating him from Magnus.

He was tempted to knock on the door and ask for more of whatever that kiss had been – whatever that kiss had _meant_ – but he knew better than to insist. He had a friend to take care of, and he couldn’t do that if he was pining and lusting after a man he had barely just met but who he was dangerously close to falling in love with.

He let himself think about Magnus Bane and the mystery of his emotions for one more minute before pushing them to the back on his mind and focusing on what really mattered. In this case: Stiles and his ridiculous hangover.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya guys! Thank you so much for reading! I'm sorry for the slightly shorter chapter, but the first scene ran away from me and adding the second one I had in mind would have made for a monster of a chapter, so I'm afraid you'll have to wait another day or two for the friendship fluff x) Still, I hope you all enjoyed it!
> 
> Love, Junie.


	8. Chapter 8

Andrew had never felt happier.

His night with Lorenzo couldn’t have gone better, even if things had ended a lot less _intensely_ than he had been hoping for. Because, as it turned out, Lorenzo Rey was a gentleman who didn’t put out before the third date – at least – and who insisted that their time on the plane didn’t count as their first romantic rendezvous. He wasn’t wrong, of course, but Andrew would have been lying if he said he hadn’t been hoping for a little action after their evening at the bar.

But even without any sex involved, he couldn’t have enjoyed his time with Lorenzo more. The man was smart and witty and incredibly easy on the eyes, and Andrew was more than a little smitten. It didn’t help that the older man was always complimenting Andrew, showering him with attention, and pulling hidden talents out of his ass in a way that left Andrew breathless and ridiculously turned on.

Not even having to leave Lorenzo behind was enough to dampen his mood, since the man had promised him a date as soon as they could agree on a time. Andrew had been tempted to suggest lunch, but they had already had breakfast – after sleeping in different beds – and he hadn’t wanted to overstay his welcome.

Besides, Alec had texted him at some point in the late morning, telling him Stiles was hungover and barely functioning, so Andrew knew he would be needed back at their little vacation home. He just hoped his friends didn’t tease him too much for his overwhelmingly good mood.

He wasn’t ashamed of being happy, but Alec and Stiles were bound to be even more insufferable now that Andrew’s crush had gone from something small to… whatever this was, and he wanted to delay the inevitable for as long as possible. Hopefully, his friends would have their own stories to tell and would leave Andrew alone for the time being.

However, even as he walked up the path leading to the house and tried to fight back memories and thoughts of Lorenzo, Andrew couldn’t help but remember the way Lorenzo had danced with him, reserved but sensual. He couldn’t help but think about the way his hands had lingered on his hips for a second longer than what could have been considered appropriate. He couldn’t help but recall how hungry Lorenzo had looked when Andrew had left less than an hour earlier, eyeing his lips as though they were something to devour.

Nothing had happened, but the anticipation was enough to have Andrew buzzing in his own skin. He took a deep breath, centring himself one last time, before pushing the door to the house open and smiling at the sight that greeted him.

Alec was laying on their couch ungracefully, his legs kicked up on one end and his head dangling over the other. He had always been too tall for furniture, similarly to Andrew, and the fair-haired man had to bite back a laugh at how ridiculous his friend looked. Alec rarely let himself go, so it was nice to see him acting a little more carefree for once, and Andrew didn’t want to disrupt that.

“Good afternoon,” Alec called out, grinning at him from his upside-down position and leaving Andrew feeling a little off-kilter.

Alec was a great friend, and an amazing person. He was kind and smart and well-spoken, and he was the older brother Andrew had always dreamed of having. He wasn’t, however, the most open person in the world, and Andrew had gotten used to that. He had gotten used to Alec having smaller moments of affection, saving up his smiles for the big occasions, and keeping his serious face on almost all the time.

So his grin, whilst not unappreciated nor completely out of the ordinary, was certainly not what Andrew had expected when he had walked into the house. After all, if Alec had had to deal with a hungover Stiles all morning… Andrew had been on the receiving end of a grumpy Stiles before, and it was not a pretty picture.

“Afternoon,” he finally answered, realising he had been staring at his friend for a tad too long to be completely normal. “Are you alright, Alec? I mean, obviously you’re alright if that smile is anything to go by, but… I thought you had to look after Stiles this morning, so I was expecting you to be a little less cheerful than this.”

“Oh, I haven’t seen Stiles yet,” Alec shrugged, the movement stilted and awkward because of the dark-haired man’s acrobatics. “Derek called me this morning to check up on him, but he’s still passed out in his bedroom. He might have woken up earlier to grab breakfast or some Advil, but I wasn’t there so I really don’t know.”

 _Wasn’t there_. Alec hadn’t been there when Stiles had possibly woken up, which could only mean one thing. Andrew’s gape slowly turned into a predatory smile as his brain connected the dots in his mind.

“Alec, did you go home with Magnus last night?” He asked, snickering when his friend blushed a bright red and sat up quickly, turning away from Andrew. “Oh my god, you did! Alec, that’s great! I mean, I could tell the two of you were into each other from the way you were dancing together, but I didn’t think you would actually be brave enough to sleep with him.”

“We didn’t- I mean, it’s not- We didn’t sleep together,” Alec corrected quickly, shooting Andrew a glare that would have been a lot more efficient had the man not been a particularly dark shade of crimson. “I honestly wasn’t much better than Stiles, since Magnus apparently had to carry me to bed, so I wasn’t in any shape to do more than pass out.”

“So nothing happened?” Andrew pouted. A part of him had hoped that at least _one_ of them had gotten something out of their respective brothers, if only so he and Alec could talk about their exploits. Hard to talk about something that hadn’t happened.

“I mean, we did kiss,” Alec admitted softly, his cheeks darkening even more when Andrew threw his hands in the air and cheered victoriously. He wasn’t usually this bubbly, tended to prefer being as quiet as Alec, but it seemed like both of their nights had put them in a good mood. “This morning, when he walked me out of his sisters’ house, he kissed me and it was… It was really nice. I know it’s too soon for me to be in love, but if I believed in love at first sight and all that crap, I definitely fallen for him by now.”

“Tell me about it,” Andrew sighed, thinking about Lorenzo and how perfectly they fit together and how much he had always wanted someone at his side who got him the way Lorenzo did. “I feel like I’ve been pulled in by a love spell or something, because I’ve never been attracted to someone as much as I have to Lorenzo. Do you think it’s something about their genes? Or, wait, not genes, but like… Family vibes?”

“Family vibes,” Alec drawled, raising his eyebrows at Andrew in a completely unimpressed manner. “No, Andrew, I don’t think it has anything to do with them being brothers. I _do_ think it has everything to do with them as people. I mean, I still haven’t really talked to your Lorenzo, but he seems pretty much perfect for you. And Magnus…”

“Magnus is perfect for you,” Andrew completed, winking at Alec when he shrugged sheepishly. “Don’t worry about it, I won’t tell the rest of the team that you’re secretly a softie who’s currently dealing with his own fairy tale romance. It would completely ruin your image, and then no one would take us seriously. I mean, can you imagine how much trouble we would be in if our reputation depended on _Stiles_ ’ ability to remain serious and stern?”

Alec chuckled underneath his breath, and Andrew smiled widely, happy to bask in their morning joy for as long as it lasted. He had been so intent on spending time with Lorenzo over the past few days that he had completely forgotten about the point of their holidays: to spend time _together_ and relax as friends. He wouldn’t forget about his date with Lorenzo, but perhaps he could take the day off romance to enjoy his friends’ company instead.

“So… Lorenzo?” Alec inquired after a few minutes of silence. Andrew, who had taken a seat in the comfortable armchair across from Alec’s sofa, smiled dopily and ignored the way his cheeks heated up at the thought of the other man. “Don’t think I didn’t notice your conspicuous absence this morning.”

“Yeah, I may have slept over at Lorenzo’s,” Andrew explained unabashedly. It wasn’t like he had anything to be ashamed of; he and Lorenzo were two fully-grown adults who knew what they were doing and weren’t about to mess things up with a drunken fumble. “He was amazing, didn’t cave to my attempts at seducing him, and promised me a third date whenever we had time on our hands.”

“Sounds awfully romantic,” Alec grinned, his gaze softening as he took in Andrew’s relaxed countenance. “I’m glad you’ve found someone like him, Andrew, and I can’t wait to get to know him better. I just hope he doesn’t turn out to be secretly married or something equally terrible.”

“Why would you even say that?!” Andrew exclaimed, pouting at his friend’s amusement. “Seriously, don’t say things like that, you’re going to jinx it! If you don’t think I’ve already gone over every heart-breaking scenario in my mind, then you don’t know me as well as I thought you did.”

“I’m kidding, Andrew,” Alec cackled, looking far too pleased with himself for someone who was in the exact same situation as Andrew. He clearly realised how hypocritical he sounded, because he raised his hands in surrender and smiled half-sheepishly, half-apologetically at Andrew less than a second later. “But maybe we should still go over whatever Stiles has dug up on him, to be sure.”

“And what he has on Magnus,” Andrew added, because there was no way he was going through the torture of a Stilinski investigation alone. Their friend was downright dangerous when it came to their job, and he had undoubtedly unearthed things neither of them were ready to hear.

Unfortunately, they were both too curious for their own good and would ask Stiles about the brothers anyways, just to make sure they weren’t going out with serial killers or something just as horrifying. Andrew had heard too many stories and dealt with too many cases as a member of the FBI _not_ to be careful, especially since serious partners had to be looked over by Luke as part of his protocol. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust them, but once people knew Andrew, Alec and Stiles were part of the FBI… Well, it was better to be safe than sorry.

“Fair enough,” Alec sighed long-sufferingly. “I mean, I knew I was going to have to go through it at some point, so might as well get it over with today or whenever Stiles decides to wake up and start acting like a human being again. Did you know he came home with Derek Hale last night?”

“The last brother, seriously? I thought he had said something about the man being attracted to you,” Andrew frowned. He hadn’t been completely convinced by Stiles’ words, of course, but he also hadn’t expected them to go home together after a single bar-night conversation. “I wasn’t aware the two of them had seen each other outside of that first night.”

“That’s because they haven’t,” Alec replied instantly, snorting at whatever shocked look was currently plastered on Andrew’s face. “God, your _face_. He literally just took him home, Andrew, nothing more. Stiles is fully clothed right now, and there’s no sign of another human in his bedroom. From what Derek told me, he dropped him off at the front door with a promise to check-up on him through me.”

“Huh,” Andrew said, frowning slightly as he tried to think back on the previous night. “Were they together at the bar? I wasn’t really keeping tabs on him, since we got lost in the crowd almost as soon as we walked in, and then I was a little busy with Lorenzo and forgot to introduce them to each other, and I honestly can’t remember seeing him at all.”

“They were drinking together, yeah,” Alec answered. “Or at least, Stiles was drinking, since I’m pretty sure Derek stayed ridiculously sober. Point is, the man took him home and made sure he was safe, and if Stiles didn’t already have a crush on him, he’s definitely going to have one now.”

“Damn,” Andrew laughed. “We really are going to date three brothers, aren’t we? Of all the strange things that could have happened whilst we were on vacation, _this_ is what Fate comes up with. I’m not complaining, but you have to admit it’s more than a little disturbing.”

“Maybe,” Alec shrugged, clearly not as concerned about the absurdity of the situation as Andrew was. “But I’m not about to spit in Fate’s face when it gave me something as wonderful as Magnus. I mean, it did occur to me that three Americans approaching us around the same time could also be a bad thing, but that’s what background checks are for. Besides, their stories seem to add up, so I’m not too worried.”

“But you’re still being careful, right?” Andrew frowned. He didn’t want to bring up the catastrophic relationship between Stiles and He Who Must not be Named, a man who had thoroughly broken Stiles’ heart and almost ruined his career, but he knew Alec heard the words he wasn’t saying clear as day. “You’re not giving him any compromising information or-”

“Andrew, as much as I like Magnus, I’ve only seen him twice in my life,” Alec huffed, rolling his eyes at the younger man. “I promise I’m not handing out secrets left and right, no matter how handsome the Martin brothers are.”

“Martin brothers?” Andrew asked, furrowing his brows as he tried to remember where he had heard that name before. “Martin as in…”

“As in Lydia Martin, the woman who’s letting us rent her house for the month,” Alec nodded, smirking at Andrew’s dumbstruck look. “Yeah, you really don’t know all that much about your Lorenzo yet either, do you? Magnus, Lorenzo, and Derek, as well as Maia, lived with the Martin family as foster children for a while. Apparently, they used the family name when they were here, and the moniker kind of stuck, since they all have different last names now.”

“Huh, interesting.” Honestly, Andrew hadn’t even thought about the fact that Lorenzo’s birth name probably hadn’t been Rey. It made sense, but Andrew hadn’t even thought to question it, and he knew that was a problem. He never let himself go, usually, and as nice as Lorenzo was, Andrew didn’t want to mess up his good habits just because of one man.

“Stop thinking so much,” Alec interrupted his maudlin thoughts. “I know it’s strange to realise we’re different when we’re around them, but I don’t think it’s a bad thing. People are never the same around people they care about, and I think we’re both starting to care for Magnus and Lorenzo more than we’ve cared about anyone. We’re allowed to be imperfect.”

“Look who’s talking,” Andrew mumbled. It wasn’t like Alec was the kind of self-praise either, especially not when it came to his social skills. “But fine, I’ll try not to freak out too much about how open I feel around Lorenzo. However, I think we should take Stiles’ suggestion seriously and invite them over or something, so I can get to know Magnus and you can get to know Lorenzo and Stiles can get to know them both.”

“That sounds like a terrible idea,” Alec grimaced, but Andrew knew he was considering it. He agreed that a dinner with the two brothers would probably be a little tense, especially if Stiles tried to interrogate them, but he needed to be sure that he wasn’t making Lorenzo into something he wasn’t just because he was infatuated. “But fine, as long as we invited Derek as well.”

“Oh, a distraction for Stiles?” Andrew smirked. “That sounds like a plan. And it’ll give _us_ the perfect opportunity to meet him and see if he’s good enough for Stiles.”

“If it ends in a disaster, though, I’m blaming it on you,” Alec grinned sharply. Andrew sighed but didn’t deny it, because it _had_ been his idea in the first place. “Except if Derek is the one to cause trouble, and then I guess I’ll have to take responsibility for inviting him.”

“Sounds fair to me,” Andrew shrugged. “Now, how about we do some research on this man before Stiles wakes up? That way we can all be on even ground when he comes down and lectures us about _our_ choice in partners.”

“I knew there was a reason you were my favourite,” Alec smiled brightly, hurrying towards his bedroom and presumably grabbing his laptop. Andrew was still in too good of a mood to call his friend out on his blatant lie – they all knew Stiles was everyone’s favourite, even if the younger man would deny it to his dying day – so he simply followed him and hurriedly went to retrieve his own research material.

After all, they had a limited amount of time and plenty of digging to do.

* * *

Stiles woke up two hours later, trudging down the stairs with bleary eyes and pillow marks all over his face. He was dressed in nothing but his pyjama pants, and he looked ready to drop down again. Overall, he was the perfect picture of a hungover college student, and Andrew almost giggled at the sight.

 _Almost_ , because he didn’t want to offend his friend when he was clearly going through a rough time. Waking up from a night out drinking was never a pleasant experience and, unlike Alec and Andrew, Stiles hadn’t had anyone to wake up _to_. Well, no one other than his friends, but Andrew knew it wasn’t the same thing.

“You look like hell,” Alec blurted out, earning himself a sharp nudge in the ribs from Andrew. Clearly, their hours of research had turned the older man back into his usual dry and blunt self, which really wasn’t what Stiles needed at the moment.

Indeed, their friend turned to glare at them both, his eyes boring into their heads as though he could drill a hole into them if he simply wished for it hard enough. Stiles had never been a morning person, but Stiles with a hangover was a whole other affair. One that Andrew tended to avoid as often as possible, and one whom he was glad he hadn’t gone to school with.

“We don’t all have boyfriends to kiss us good morning, Lightwood,” Stiles grumbled, stomping into the small kitchen and banging on the coffee machine until it sputtered and started working. Andrew wasn’t even sure _how_ he had done that, but he wasn’t about to question his sleepy and annoyed friend’s actions and talents. “You could have at least made me coffee!”

Alec bit down on his bottom lip, clearly trying to refrain from explaining that neither Andrew nor Alec had spent the night at the house, and therefore hadn’t made coffee for them, let alone for Stiles. Andrew appreciated his restraint, because he was almost certain half of Stiles’ anger had to do with his lack of progress with Derek.

Not that Andrew actually knew what had happened, but if Derek had only dropped Stiles off at the house… Well, who knew what had gone down the night before? He could only hope that Stiles would tell them, and that Derek hadn’t been a complete asshole. He didn’t think that was the case, since assholes rarely checked up on people the morning after, but one could never be sure.

“I didn’t miss this,” Alec whispered as Stiles prepared his cup of coffee, pouring a generous amount of sugar into his mug. “I’ve never understood how someone like Stiles could turn into _this_ after a few drinks too many. It’s like his superpower or something; the ability to switch personalities the morning after a bar night.”

“It could be worse,” Andrew shrugged, because it really could be. Stiles wasn’t the most pleasant person in the morning, but at least he tended to ignore them rather than attack them. He was a little snappish, and his temper was short, but he was still Stiles, and he was still their friend. “Besides, he’ll switch back to his usual self as soon as we mention research and wanting to find out about Magnus and Lorenzo. I swear I’ve seen him compiling information in notebooks, and there’s a _lot_. What we have on Derek could never live up to that.”

Alec’s lips twitched into a small smile at that, and Andrew had to agree with the sentiment. One of Stiles’ most endearing traits was his tendency to get obsessed with a subject, especially when it came to his friends. He had always looked up their significant others as soon as things got serious, and he had always had their backs when they needed information for a case. His brain worked faster than most people’s, and Andrew had always found him impressive because of it. Maybe _that_ was why he was everyone’s favourite.

Alec was handsome, collected, and a great leader. Andrew was quick on his feet, great at adapting, and a very competent liar. But Stiles… Stiles was charming and intelligent and his instincts were never wrong, yet he never lorded it over anyone. He was loyal and an amazing friend, and Andrew knew they were lucky to have him.

He reminded himself of that when the man stumbled into the living area, spilled some of his coffee onto Andrew’s jeans, and proceeded to sprawl himself out on the floor as though he owned the place. He _loved_ Stiles, he told himself. He couldn’t murder his friend, because he desperately needed him, no matter how frustrating he could be at times.

(At times being _right then_.)

“Feeling better?” Alec chuckled, a lot more used to his best friend’s behaviour than Andrew was. From what he had heard, Stiles and Alec had been roommates for a while, and they knew everything about each other. They weren’t attached at the hip, but it was a damned near thing. Andrew envied their friendship a little bit, but he knew he had his place in their trio just as much as the other two did. His role was just a little different.

“I feel a little less like I’m about to die, yes,” Stiles answered huffily, taking a large sip of his coffee and wincing, having probably forgotten that the liquid was piping hot. “I don’t know how you guys do it. I mean, even with a warm body pressed up next to me, mornings after drinks are never fun. So, what’s your secret?”

“I don’t drink as much?” Andrew suggested, narrowly dodging the spoon Stiles threw in his direction. “Seriously, that’s all I have for you.”

“Geez buddy, thank you,” Stiles mumbled, but Andrew could tell he was amused – just a little bit, but still amused. “I’m not even going to ask Alec, since I know he’s just a superhuman who doesn’t understand the concept of a true hangover. Now, what do you guys have to tell me about your nights? Anyone get laid? Please tell me one of you got laid.”

When they both shook their heads, Stiles tutted at them disappointedly and then proceeded to ask for a detailed retelling of what both their evenings had been like. Andrew doubted he was listening to their every word, but he hummed in the right places and made a few comments here and there, so he wasn’t about to call him out on his bullshit. If Stiles needed idle conversation to pass the time and get him out of his waking up funk, then Andrew and Alec would give him exactly that.

“And then we decided we should have them over for dinner at some point,” Alec concluded, his gaze fixed on Stiles as he waited for a reaction.

It was instantaneous. As soon as Alec mentioned the dinner, Stiles sprang up, gobbled down the rest of his coffee, and raised his eyebrows at his best friend. Well, that was _one way_ to wake him up.

“I’m going to need you to be a little more specific than that,” Stiles sighed, as though Alec should have know that already. “Who is _them_ , when is this dinner going to happen, is this your way of introducing your boyfriends to me? Oh, and are we having it here or are we going to go out?”

“We haven’t actually gone over the details yet,” Andrew answered, not wanting Alec to have to deal with the interrogation alone, especially since he had been the one to come up with the idea in the first place. “But we were thinking Magnus, Lorenzo, and Derek, and definitely here. We want to get to know each other’s partners, and I don’t think a restaurant is the right place to do that.”

“You’re introducing them to the family so soon? Introducing _yourselves_ to the family so soon?” Stiles grinned mischievously. And then Andrew’s words caught up to him, and it was all the older man could do not to laugh in his face. “Wait, Derek? Why on earth are you inviting Derek to a dinner with your significant others or whatever it is you guys have with Brothers number one and two? Are you seriously trying to get to know the whole family so soon? Because if so, we should probably invite the girls and…”

“Stiles,” Alec cut him off, staring at him as patiently as Alec could stare at someone. Which was to say not much, but still more than when he talked to his siblings. “We know Derek was the one to drop you off last night, and we know you’re more than a little interested in him. We want him to come for the same reason we want Magnus and Lorenzo to come.”

Stiles gaped at them, his eyes bulging out of his head as though he had never heard anything as ridiculous as what Alec and Andrew were suggesting. Not for the first time, Andrew cursed all the people who had hurt Stiles enough to make him believe he wasn’t a wonderful human being deserving of love and attention. He had never been quite the same after _that_ relationship, and the ones that had followed hadn’t helped.

However, Andrew had a feeling Derek Hale could be different. The Martin brothers hadn’t disappointed them so far, and there was no reason for Number three to be any different. He had _checked up on Stiles_ , for heaven’s sake.

“Nope,” Stiles shook his head rapidly. “Absolutely not. I’m not subjecting myself to a dinner with a guy who only spent time with me out of pity or obligation or whatever it is he was doing last night. Look, I appreciate your efforts to make me happy, but Derek still hasn’t given me his number, he’s barely talked to me at all, and he saw me make a fool out of myself after the bar, so thanks but no thanks.”

“Stiles…” Alec said softly, gazing sadly but determinedly at his best friend. “He called to make sure you were alright. He walked you back home even though he definitely didn’t have to. And he stayed with you all night, whether or not he said a lot. Maybe he’s just not a talker.”

“Still doesn’t mean he’s interested in me, and definitely doesn’t mean we should put him in an awkward position by inviting him to fifth-wheel with me,” Stiles grit out, and, well…

“That’s actually a solid point,” Andrew admitted. “I mean, we don’t know how this Derek feels about Stiles, and it would be unfair to put him in a position where he feels like he has to interact with him because you and I will be too busy with Magnus and Lorenzo.”

“We don’t have to make it that way,” Alec rolled his eyes, his exasperated huff making it clear that he thought both Andrew and Stiles were idiots. “We can just say we want Derek around because we want to get to know all of our partners’ siblings, even though it is a little early for that… Point is, as long as we all interact with everyone, there’s no reason for things to get weird. And if Derek _is_ interested in Stiles, then this will be the perfect opportunity for him to do something about it. Come on, it’s a good plan.”

“It’s a mediocre plan at best,” Stiles muttered, his annoyed façade cracking a little when Alec shot him a pleading look. “Oh my god, fine! Fine, we’ll do this thing, but only because I want to properly meet your men and make sure they’re good for you. Nothing else. I’m not giving in to your weird matchmaking attempts, no matter how much I may or may not want to kiss Derek Hale.”

“You totally want to kiss Derek Hale,” Andrew snorted, because he had _eyes_ , alright? He had seen the way Stiles had perked up a little bit when Alec had first mentioned the man. The gesture had been completely unconscious, but Andrew had easily spotted it – had been looking for it, even. “I mean, solid choice. He’s definitely got quite the face.”

“And probably the body to go with it,” Alec added seriously.

“Alec, dude, I love you, but you’re not allowed to compliment people who look like they could be your twin cousin,” Stiles pointed accusingly at his best friend. “You’re like a less attractive version of Derek Hale, which means the only thing you’re allowed to say about him is that he would definitely beat you in a beauty pageant.”

“Why would we- Never mind,” Alec shook his head. “We actually wanted to talk to you about something else. Something that sort of has to do with the dinner but is mostly about Lorenzo and Magnus themselves. It’s not that we don’t trust them or like them just the way they are, but you know there are some things we have to look out for as members of a governmental organisation dealing with spies and undercover agents. We took the liberty to do some work of our own, but we know you-”

“Jesus Christ, Alec, just tell me you want to see the files I’ve compiled on Lorenzo and Magnus already,” Stiles threw his hands in the air, standing up quickly and heading towards his bedroom. “I swear you make everything ten times more complicated than it could be!”

“You’re one to talk!” Alec sniped back, pouting when his best friend didn’t even react to his words.

“Sometimes I forget that you two act like toddlers when provoked,” Andrew choked on a laugh, winking at Alec when his friend narrowed his eyes at him dangerously. That look had stopped working on Andrew three weeks into his life at the FBI, so he only rolled his eyes at his friend’s antics. “Seriously, I would think you were an old married couple if I didn’t know how platonic your relationship was. If the boss ever needs someone to go undercover as a couple…”

“Been there, done that,” Stiles grinned, rushing back into the living room with his notebook and a flurry of papers. “We did great, and Luke actually sat us down to ask if we had something we wanted to tell him. One of the best moments of my life, I tell you. Alec looked _mortified_.”

“Damn, wish I’d been there to see that,” Andrew pouted, trying to imagine what Stiles and Alec would have been like as a couple, had things worked out differently. He shuddered at the thought; they would have been menaces, and he would have probably quit after less than a month. “Anyways, as interesting and horrifying as that story sounds, I think we have other tales we’d rather hear about.”

“You know, for people who claim I’m too nosy for my own good, you’re certainly very curious about Magnus and Lorenzo,” Stiles smirked, opening his notebook but barely glancing down at his notes as he started his impromptu speech. Andrew wasn’t even surprised that he had the information memorised. “So, let’s start with what you should already know. Magnus Bane and Lorenzo Rey, formerly known as Magnus Martin and Lorenzo Martin, born Lorenzo Juarez. 29 and 28 respectively, born on December 8th and July 17th. They grew up in the foster system after their parents died, reasons unknown except for Magnus’ mother. I’ll let him tell you that specific story, since I’m sure he would rather be the one to break that one.”

Alec nodded slowly, and Andrew couldn’t help but wonder what was bad enough for Stiles to hold back information. He knew death was never an easy thing, but the way Stiles talked made it seem like Magnus had been there. And if that was the case… Yeah, not the prettiest tale.

“They were both exemplary students in their youth, no record except for one breaking and entering claim,” Stiles continued, smirking slightly at whatever he had noted. “Why don’t you try getting them to tell you about that over dinner? I’m sure Derek would love to contribute. Anyways, they both moved out of the Martin household once they were old enough to get emancipated, changed their last names even though they remained close to their foster parents, and moved to the States for their studies. They actually both attended Columbia, but then split up when the time came for them to get a job. Magnus stayed in New York, but Lorenzo moved up to Boston. Honestly, their lives are not that entertaining.”

Andrew would have believed him, but Stiles had never quite mastered the art of lying, and he knew there was something else. Something important, even, that probably wasn’t as pretty or simple as the rest of the story he had told. However, he knew pushing wouldn’t get them anywhere, so he put his hand on Alec’s knee to stop him from saying anything, and he waited for Stiles to break.

If there was one thing their friend hated more than anything, it was silence, which meant it was only a matter of time before…

“They got in a fight big enough to get them banned from their campus library,” Stiles blurted out. “Nobody knows what happened exactly, but the records state that Magnus had to spend the night in the hospital, and Lorenzo almost filed a restraining order. Their relationship seems to have mellowed out over the past few years, and Magnus’ record is clean enough for him to be a professor, but… Well, there’s nothing linking them. It’s like they haven’t seen each other in years, which wouldn’t surprise me but also means whatever their issue is, it’s _big_.”

“Damn,” Andrew murmured softly. “So dinner with the two of them might turn out to be the worst idea we’ve ever had?”

“I mean, I’m not one to curse this fabulous plan you came up with, but I have no idea if their relationship has gotten any better,” Stiles shrugged. “And I have no idea where Derek fits into this either, although it seems like he and Magnus talk semi-regularly, or at least when they need something from each other. They’re all close to their sister Maia, but she seems to be a lot chiller than the three of them, so…”

“Families are complicated,” Alec sighed, and Andrew could only hum in agreement, because who was _he_ to comment on siblings? Stiles seemed just as lost, and Andrew sent him a commiserating look. As only children, it was hard for them to relate to Alec’s family situation, and even more so the Martins’. “I just hope this doesn’t end in a blood bath.”

“Please, as though they’ll dare do anything in front of the two of you,” Stiles scoffed. “Worst case scenario, they spend the entire night trying to outdo each other and prove they’re not worth the effort. However, everything I found about them seems to portray them as reliable people who know what they’re doing with their lives and are liked by those around them. I’m sure everything will go well. Is that enough information for the two of you?”

“About Magnus and Lorenzo? Sure,” Andrew smirked as Stiles tensed, clearly understanding where the conversation was headed. “But see, we thought we should do some digging of our own, about the last Martin brother who you seem so fond of.”

“His reputation is just as stellar as Lorenzo’s and Magnus’, and he doesn’t even have a breaking and entering strike on his record,” Alec picked up for him, glancing down at their notes to make sure he wasn’t forgetting anything. “Same backstory, although his family died in a fire of which he was the only survivor. He’s 26, birthday is on Christmas, and he owns a small Martial Arts teaching school in which he also teaches. Honestly, the worst thing on this guy’s record is a shift relationship with a woman quite a bit older than him, and that definitely wasn’t his fault. And it’s also probably a story he’ll tell you when he’s ready.”

“Not that I’m going to be dating him,” Stiles raised his eyebrows pointedly at them. “Besides, I already did a background check on him, so I knew most of this. However… Thank you, I guess, for looking out for me.”

“And thank _you_ ,” Alec said sincerely.

“Seriously, Stiles, your research skills may be slightly terrifying, but we all know you use them for good, so thanks,” Andrew smiled at their younger friend, who was looking decidedly uncomfortable with the attention. Sometimes Andrew forgot how _cute_ Stiles could be when he wasn’t trying so hard to be perfect. “Now, how about I make us a nice lunch to get rid of your leftover hangover?”

“Sounds perfect to me,” Stiles grinned, hurrying towards the kitchen in a clear attempt to escape the heavily emotion-loaded living room.

And if Stiles was a tad more tactile than usual that morning, surreptitiously hugging Alec and Andrew every time his hands were free? Andrew knew better than to mention it, and he didn’t hesitate to embrace his friend right back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya guys! Thank you so much for reading! I know this chapter doesn't have a lot of romance in it, but I really just wanted to write Andrew, Alec & Stiles interacting and then I got a little carried away, so this happened! I promise we'll be seeing more of our other trio in the next chapter (or the one after, depending on what mood I'm in). I hope you still enjoyed!
> 
> Love, Junie.


	9. Chapter 9

Out of the three weeks they had left before the wedding and their subsequent departure, Andrew, Alec and Stiles took six days to plan a dinner with the Martin brothers.

As it turned out, they had been severely underestimating how little the three men could stand each other. Magnus didn’t seem to have a problem with Derek, but he refused to be in the same room as Lorenzo for longer than ten minutes. Lorenzo similarly didn’t have any major issues with Derek, but the mere mention of Magnus had been enough to send him on an hour-long rant. As for Derek… He didn’t seem particularly thrilled at the idea of seeing his brothers, but he had caved as soon as Stiles had taken the phone from Alec, so at least that had been simple enough.

The thing was, Stiles didn’t even care about the dinner that much. Sure, he was eager to see Derek again and explore whatever the hell they had shared that night at the bar and he would be more than happy to get to know his friends’ partners. He just wasn’t sure that was enough to outweigh the inevitable chaos that would break out with Lorenzo and Magnus in the same room.

After all, Lorenzo had barely been able to _mention_ his brother’s name without snarling, and it had taken Alec days to convince Magnus to attend the doomed dinner. If that wasn’t a disaster waiting to happen, Stiles didn’t know what was.

However, he knew how much the night meant to his friends. He knew Andrew was eager to introduce them to his airplane man properly, just as well as he knew that Alec wanted to use the dinner as a way for him to make sure Magnus was compatible with their little trio. So, despite how bad of an idea the entire affair was, Stiles hadn’t been able to back out of it. He was weak for his friends, and if that meant spending an entire evening drinking to avoid the awkwardness, then so be it.

So, like the good best friend he was, he had gotten dressed for the evening, putting on his second best outfit – he was saving the best one for the wedding – and plastering a smile onto his face that did very little to hide the fact that he was far from excited at the prospect of seeing the Martin brothers in such a tense setting.

Thankfully, Alec and Andrew looked just as nervous as him, if not more, which meant he came off as far more relaxed than he actually was. His friends were buzzing in their own skins, as though they hadn’t seen their respective boyfriends – or whatever they were – just the day before. They had both wanted to make sure Lorenzo and Magnus were truly okay with the whole situation, leaving Stiles alone to wallow in his loneliness and unfocused thoughts.

“We should have cancelled,” Andrew groaned ten minutes before the men were set to arrive. “God, we should have never organised this in the first place. Why did you let me talk you into this? It’s a terrible idea and Lorenzo is going to hate me for forcing him into this, and the other brothers are going to hate me and everything is going to go to hell.”

“What if Magnus doesn’t get along with you?” Alec tacked on, wringing his hands together behind his back. It was his most obvious nervous tell, and Stiles let one of his hands rest against his best friend’s shoulder in a silent show of support. “Seriously, what if he doesn’t like you and then I have to break up with him because I would obviously choose you and-”

“For heaven’s sake,” Stiles interrupted him, shooting both of his friends narrowed looks. “I’m the rambler here, alright? This whole ranting thing doesn’t suit either of you, so if you could please calm down and focus on all the things that could go _right_ tonight, that would be great.”

Andrew bit down on his bottom lip hard, clearly refraining from making another panicked comment, and Stiles nodded at him gratefully. He wasn’t used to being the one who had to reign in his friends’ emotions, and he wasn’t sure he enjoyed the role all that much. Things were a lot better the other way around, and he could only hope that Alec wouldn’t be that worried all night, because Stiles really needed his pseudo older brother to take the lead.

A loud knock at the front door interrupted his thoughts, and he bounded forward before either of his friends could do anything stupid. He had no idea whether the brothers had come together or would arrive one by one, but he didn’t want to risk either of his friends opening the door on Magnus and Lorenzo’s bickering. They were stressed enough as it was.

He patted himself on the back for his swift thinking when he opened the door and was greeted by the sight of all three brothers looking stuck between anger and discomfort – which seemed to be the dinner’s theme.

Lorenzo and Magnus had used Derek as their buffer, and their younger brother looked like he would rather be anywhere else. Stiles couldn’t blame him, given the way the two older men kept shooting each other death glares when they thought the other wasn’t aware of what was going on. It was petty and ridiculous, and Stiles barely held back a snort. He had no idea what had happened between the brothers, but he didn’t think anything justified this level of pettiness.

If Derek’s exasperated stare was anything to go by, he didn’t think so either.

“Evening guys!” Stiles greeted them cheerfully, determined to lift the mood even just a little bit. Everyone else seemed to be seconds away from running away, so he figured _someone_ had to make a good impression and bring up the happiness levels a little bit. “Hope you haven’t been waiting out there long. Andrew and Alec are waiting inside and the food should be ready in a bit, so if you don’t mind…”

Magnus and Lorenzo stormed into the house before Stiles could finish his sentence, and it took him a second to realise they probably knew the place better than him, since it belonged to their sister-in-law. It also didn’t escape his notice that they had both perked up a little bit at the mention of their significant others. He would have found it cute if they hadn’t completely ignored him in the process of finding the other two men.

“You’ll have to forgive them,” Derek sighed heavily. It occurred to Stiles then that, just like him, he had been saddled with the responsibility to make sure the evening sailed by smoothly. He probably had it even harder, since he had to deal with two bitter brothers instead of two nervous friends. “They’re usually a lot politer than this, but they’ve been on edge ever since I picked them up, and your friends are probably our best chance at avoiding murder.”

“It’s fine,” Stiles waved the other man’s concerns away, stepping aside so Derek could also enter the house. “Thankfully, they have a younger brother to smooth over their blunders and make sure things go well, so I won’t be too hard on them. Except if they hurt my friends, of course, although I assume the same goes for you.”

“Not really,” Derek shrugged. “I’m neither of my brothers’ keeper. They have friends for that, people who are closer to them and more ready to leap to their defence. I’m sure Catarina will corner Alec at some point, and Lorenzo’s friends are due to be in town any time soon, so Andrew will also have to go through some sort of talk at some point.”

“I’ll make sure to warn them,” Stiles chuckled. “You know, this might be the most I’ve heard you speak at once.”

“That you remember,” Derek murmured, his lips curling into a small smirk. Stiles’ mind immediately strayed to that night at the bar. He knew he was missing portions of time, but he hadn’t realised he was missing portions in which Derek actually _talked_ to him. Damn his faulty memory, and damn his low tolerance for alcohol.

“That I remember,” he conceded anyways, because it wasn’t like Derek was wrong about the holes in his mind when it came to that infamous night. Raised voiced drifted in from the kitchen, making Derek grimace and Stiles wince. “Maybe we should…”

“We should definitely,” Derek nodded, already heading towards the back room, leaving Stiles to scramble after him. He was supposed to be the _host_ , damn it, but now all his guests were running away from him before he could offer them anything to drink and he was feeling more than a little useless.

And then he walked into the kitchen and forgot all about his usefulness – or lack thereof – in favour of staring at the show Magnus and Lorenzo were putting on. It was frankly a little disconcerting, since they were all but molesting Alec and Andrew whilst glaring at each other, and Stiles immediately regretted leaving the entranceway. Maybe if he was discreet enough, he could still sneak out quietly and hope they forgot about-

“Oh no, if I have to deal with this, so do you,” Derek muttered lowly, glaring at Stiles before turning his gaze back towards his brothers.

Stiles wasn’t sure what he had been expecting from Magnus Bane and Lorenzo Rey, not even after the brief encounters he’d had with the both of them, but it wasn’t _this_. It wasn’t this strange competition of who could impress their boyfriend the most, and it wasn’t this downright hostile tension sparking between the two of them. Suddenly, Stiles wished he had looked a little deeper into their infamous fight, because there was clearly something big going on. Something a lot bigger than Stiles’ usual fix of family drama.

“Hey Alec, could you check the oven?” Andrew asked, a hint of nerves to his tone as Lorenzo turned to push Magnus and Alec aside, reaching for the oven before either of them could do anything about Andrew’s request. “Right… That should be ready. Just take it out and put it on the counter, I’ll deal with it. You know what, I’ve mostly got a handle on things from now on, so why don’t you all go take your seats? I’ll be over with the wine in just a second.”

“I’ll help with the wine,” Alec instantly volunteered, and Stiles took a second to narrow his eyes at his friend before leading their three reluctant guests to the table. Alec had done a wonderful job at decorating and setting it, which was surprising given his usual inability to match colours, and Stiles thanked the gods that they had done enough research to place Lorenzo and Magnus as far away from each other as possible.

Granted, there would only be a table separating the two of them, but a table was better than nothing.

“You’re not sitting at the Head?” Magnus’ eyebrows flew up as Stiles took the seat across from him, next to Lorenzo, with Derek across from the latter. It wasn’t the best position to be in considering Magnus and Lorenzo’s tense relationship, but Alec had been adamant that he and Andrew should get to sit on the ends and Stiles had been too tired to protest.

“Wouldn’t want to get in the way of Alec and Andrew’s perfect plan,” Stiles shrugged. “Andrew did the cooking, Alec planned the date and set the table, so it makes sense for them to be your hosts of honour or whatnot. Besides, it was the best way to have you sit next to your boyfriends, so I knew I wasn’t about to win that particular battle.”

“I just assumed that since you greeted us at the door…”

“Oh, cut it off, Bane,” Lorenzo sniped, rolling his eyes at his older brother. “Nobody cares about etiquette anymore. Just because you’re stuck in the old days and refuse to move towards something new.”

“I’m not the one stuck in the past and you know it,” Magnus snarked back, his lip curling up in distaste. “I just assumed whoever would be meeting us at the door would be the one to have organised everything, but I’ll gladly admit that I was wrong.”

“That would be a first,” Lorenzo grumbled. Next to him, Derek brought his hands up to his face and dug the heels of his hands into his eyes, as though the simple action would make him disappear. Yeah, if it was that simple, Stiles would have done the same thing ten minutes earlier.

“Andrew is actually the one who came up with the idea to have dinner all together,” Stiles explained before the brothers could keep on going at each other. It wasn’t that he didn’t enjoy their banter, but… Well, there was a difference between playful banter and sibling bitchiness, and Stiles only had patience for one of those things. “Alec is the one who decided to invite Derek as well, and I was just dragged into this because I wanted to meet you both properly now that you’re dating my best friends.”

“Right,” Lorenzo straightened up in his seat, clearly remembering that they had someone to impress. Too bad for him, Stiles had already gotten a good idea of what the man could be like, and it wasn’t all pretty. “Andrew’s told me quite a lot about you. He says you’re the best researcher on your team, and that you’ve got quite the observational talent.”

“Yeah, that sounds about right,” Stiles smiled. “Although Andrew and Alec have nothing to be ashamed of, since they’re also Senior Special Agents who are just as – if not more – talented and respected than I am. Besides, it’s all about the team. I wouldn’t be able to do it all without them, the same way I know they wouldn’t be able to do it without me. It’s a mutually beneficial arrangement, and I couldn’t be happier to share the experience with my best friends.”

“That sounds wonderful,” Magnus said, and Stiles was glad to notice that he actually meant his words. “Alec told me the two of you met a while ago, so I’m glad he has a friend like you to look after him.”

“Right,” Stiles nodded slowly, fidgeting with his cutlery for a few seconds before deciding to get the worst of it out in the open whilst the night was still young. “Speaking of looking after each other, I thought I would come clean and admit that I’ve looked into your pasts, as well as your criminal records. And before any of you get angry or think I don’t trust you, this is pretty much standard procedure when it comes to me. We had to deal with a bad situation a few years back, and we just don’t want to make the same mistake again. It’s nothing against you personally.”

“But you looked into our lives,” Lorenzo frowned, clearly not liking the idea of someone knowing things about him without him _telling_ them. Stiles could understand that, to a certain extent, but he also knew the importance of going into things with open eyes. He wanted to keep his friends safe, and this was the best way to do it. “Doesn’t that violate some sort of code? I mean, do you even have access to records outside of your work space?”

“I don’t need to have my FBI badge on me to look people up,” Stiles rolled his eyes. “I was pretty good at this even before I joined the force; the only thing that’s changed is that I now have my boss to back me up. My boss who also happens to be Alec’s step-father, in case the two idiots in there haven’t mentioned that yet.”

If the way Magnus gulped worriedly was anything to go by, Alec _hadn’t_ mentioned that, which was both ridiculous and unsurprising. As much as he loved Luke, Alec tended to forget to talk about him until someone outright asked him about his family. In fact, he was the same way about the rest of his family, which meant there was a good chance Magnus didn’t know much about Alec at all on that front.

It wasn’t unusual, but Stiles would have to remind his friend that not talking about his family might make things awkward in the long run. After all, Stiles had been there when Isabelle had burst into their apartment without warning them and decided to move in for a few weeks. If Magnus and Alec dated for longer than a few months, there was a good chance one of his siblings would pull the same trick again, and Stiles didn’t think Magnus would enjoy being caught unaware.

“So, despite what I may or may not have found out about you during my little research spree, I _am_ here to get to know you, so… Go ahead, impress me,” Stiles leaned back in his chair, looking between Lorenzo and Magnus to see who would speak up first and grinning when he spotted Derek’s aborted snicker. Good to know someone else was enjoying this as much as he was.

“Well, I’m a professor at Columbia,” Magnus started. For someone who appeared so collected and clearly had no issues standing up for himself, he sure knew how to sound uncomfortable and completely out of his depth. Not that Stiles could blame him, since he tended to have that effect on just about everyone. “I’m not too far from D.C., so I was planning on seeing Alec whenever we could get a day off or a week-end to ourselves…”

“And so was I,” Lorenzo cut in, preening a little when Stiles’ gaze flickered to him. “I mean, Andrew is definitely worth all the time in the world, so I was planning on visiting as often as I could. As you know, I sometimes do business in D.C. and I’m not worried about the financial aspect of flying out every so often.”

As the two men continued talking about their professional lives, their schedules, the things they could give to Alec and Andrew, Stiles couldn’t help but wonder if they were aware that he couldn’t have cared less. Sure, it was nice to know they were both ready to travel for their boyfriends and that they had enough money to shower his friends in love and gifts, but this wasn’t what Stiles judged his friends’ partners on.

No, that part would start when Alec and Andrew joined them and Stiles could finally see how his _friends_ interacted with their competitive boyfriends. After all, it wouldn’t be fair of him to disapprove of their choices just because their partners happened to hate each other a little bit.

“Everything alright?”

Lorenzo and Magnus immediately stopped talking as Alec and Andrew entered the room, cradling a bottle of wine and a salad in their hands and looking at their boyfriends suspiciously. At least they were _aware_ of how ridiculous the two of them were. Stiles wasn’t sure what he would have done if they hadn’t noticed how insufferable the brothers could be.

“Everything’s fine, darling,” Magnus smiled at his boyfriend fondly, his smile widening when Alec leaned over to peck his cheek before settling down in his seat. “And even better now that you’re here.”

“Suck-up,” Lorenzo coughed, and it was all Stiles could do not to throw food at the man so he would _shut up_ and stop focusing so much on his brother. There were four other people in the room; surely he could find someone else to talk to.

“Don’t be so bitter, Ren,” Andrew said chidingly, pressing a small kiss to the top of his boyfriend’s head as he sat down, effectively cutting Lorenzo’s diatribe off. If Stiles wasn’t mistaken, there was even the hint of a blush on his cheeks, and the look in his eyes as he stared at Andrew was absolutely _adoring_.

Because of course the two idiotic brothers were falling for Stiles’ friends. Of course they were smitten and attentive and willing to do anything for them; it would have been too easy for them to be just as terrible to their boyfriends as they were to each other. It wasn’t that Stiles had been hoping for them to be horrible partners, of course not, but he didn’t like conundrums.

He didn’t like people who could be awful one second and wonderful the next, especially not in a context like a family dinner. If Lorenzo and Magnus could be kind and patient with Andrew and Alec, why couldn’t they at least _attempt_ to do the same thing around each other and, more importantly, around Stiles.

“We were actually just talking about what I do during my time off,” Lorenzo picked up the conversation where they had left it off, sending a smug look in Magnus’ direction when Alec immediately started asking questions about Lorenzo’s hobbies. It would have annoyed Stiles to no end, but he couldn’t find it in himself to be mad at the man, not when he was holding Andrew’s hand like it was the most precious thing in the world.

Fucking couples and their ability to turn everything into a romantic moment.

“What about you, Derek?” Stiles perked up at the question, glancing towards the third – and mostly silent – brother as he looked towards Alec with an uncomfortable smile. “What do you do with your free time?”

“I don’t have a lot,” the man shrugged, his eyebrows furrowing slightly in thought. “I work a lot of the time, since owning a business isn’t exactly a part-time job. But I guess I like running? And I read.”

“Oh yeah, he reads a _lot_ ,” Magnus snickered, Lorenzo nodding along. And as happy as Stiles was to see that they could get along, he had to say he wasn’t glad it was over Derek. “Back in high school, he was one of those kids who couldn’t get his nose out of a book long enough to make friends.”

Stiles knew the man didn’t mean it in a bad way. He knew he was just teasing his little brother the same way Alec did to him, but it still got on his nerves to see Lorenzo chuckling softly as though it was okay to hate Magnus right until the point when the man starting making fun of Derek. And it still annoyed him to see the way Derek shrugged sheepishly and crossed his arms over his chest in an almost protective gesture.

“I’m sure that’s not true,” he piped up, staring straight at Derek as he spoke. “I mean, I was also one of those kids who was often too busy doing research to focus on the world around me, and even I had friends. Sure, Scott and I were a little dysfunctional at times, but it was the thought that mattered. And I had Aline too, although our friendship status was always a little unclear.”

“Oh sure, Derek had Isaac and Erica and that other girl,” Lorenzo shrugged. “But they weren’t exactly the most popular kids in town. Derek knows we don’t mean it in a bad way though, he just didn’t spend as much time with us as we did with each-”

He cut himself off before he could finish his sentence, and Stiles couldn’t help but grimace at the uncomfortable silence that descended upon them. He had assumed Lorenzo and Magnus had been close before, but it was strange to actually hear about it from them considering how little they seemed to get along now.

“Helen was the other girl,” Derek continued, not even skipping a beat. Either he was used to having to mediate for his brothers, or he was truly determined to have this evening go well. “The three of them will be back next week in time for the wedding, since Maia was also one of our closest friends. We were inseparable, and I’m almost certain we’re going to get dragged into a bachelorette party at some point.”

“Oh, that sounds like fun,” Andrew beamed. “Our friend Lydia, ironically, is also getting married soon, and I’m pretty sure the entire team is going to be invited to her engagement party.”

“Yeah, but engagement parties are a lot nicer than bachelorette ones,” Alec pointed out. “A lot more formal, and a lot less likely to end with everyone but the designated driver black-out drunk. Besides, isn’t it nicer to celebrate the couple as a whole rather than a single person?”

“I don’t know,” Magnus grinned mischievously. “Engagement parties can also be pretty wild if they’re done right, and bachelorette parties have a lot more charm than you give them credit for. Not that you have anything to worry about, Alexander. I’m sure your bachelor party will be absolutely delightful. At least if I have anything to say about it.”

“Proposing after two weeks of knowing the man, Magnus?” Lorenzo smirked, and _god_ there they went ahead. “I’m not one to comment on how fast things go between you and your new boyfriend, but I thought you had learned from your mistakes after how terribly things went with-”

“ _Lorenzo_ ,” Derek said sternly. Stiles knew it was a serious rebuke, he _did_ , but there was something unfairly attractive about the way Derek all but growled out his brother’s name. “Don’t go there.”

“It’s been years,” Lorenzo rolled his eyes, although Stiles noticed he didn’t bring the topic up again. Whatever he had been about to say and whatever relationship Magnus had been in when he was younger, it was clearly off the table.

Unfortunately, the brothers’ little staring contest had led to yet another tense silence during which Andrew and Alec had sent each other worried and completely unsubtle glances. The only reason their boyfriends probably hadn’t noticed them was because they were too busy glaring at each other to focus on anything else.

And then, like the hero he truly was, Derek brought up the meal and how great of a cook Andrew was, and they all managed to settle back into a semi-normal and mostly relaxed conversation. By some lucky twist of fate, Magnus and Lorenzo stopped sniping at each other, instead focusing on Alec, Andrew and Stiles. Derek stayed out of the conversation for the most part, but it didn’t escape Stiles’ attention that he was always the one to break through awkward pauses with a compliment or an easy question.

And through it all, Stiles managed to get a few insights on the man’s life, mostly through stories told by Magnus – and occasionally Lorenzo – but sometimes from Derek himself, whose ears turned red when the attention turned towards him but always recovered within a few seconds.

By the time dessert had been brought out and the two couples had migrated to different parts of the house – Magnus and Alec back to the kitchen, Andrew and Lorenzo to the couch – the atmosphere was a lot less intense than it had been at the beginning of the night, and Stiles was feeling pleasantly tipsy from the two and a half glasses of wine he had had.

And maybe he was hallucinating, or maybe the alcohol was getting to him more than he had thought it would, but the man looked even more handsome than he had before. They were sitting at the dining table, closer than they had been when the others had been around, and Derek was glowing in the moonlight coming from the window behind him. His eyes were sparkling, and he looked so at home that Stiles couldn’t help but lean in a little closer, wanting to appreciate the moment while it lasted.

“How often did you come to this place when you were younger? I mean, if you guys already had a better and bigger house in town…” Stiles shrugged, hoping Derek would understand what he was asking, even though he was being even more vague than usual.

“It belonged to Lydia’s grandparents,” Derek explained, a small smile twitching at his lips. “It’s one of the reasons why she’s so reluctant to sell it. It holds more sentimental value than anything else in this town, except perhaps for the main house itself. We used to sneak out here during the week-ends, hoping her grandparents would let us in and take care of us for a little while.”

“Ooh, trouble in paradise at the Martin household?” Stiles waggled his eyebrows, almost certain that their reasons for sneaking out had more to do with teenagerhood and rebellious children than anything else.

“We mostly just needed to get away from each other, most of the time,” Derek answered softly, gazing over at Lorenzo and then letting his eyes stray to the kitchen. “I love my brothers, and I have since the day I met them, but we all needed time apart. Those two were a lot closer when we were younger, which meant they would sneak out together, whilst I mostly got out of the house with Maia. Lydia liked to tag along with whoever was going out when she was in the mood.”

“And her grandparents?” Stiles inquired. “Were they always cool with you guys popping up at random times of the day and, I’m assuming, night?”

“Yeah, they were,” Derek murmured. “I know they weren’t technically my grandparents, but they still took care of me like I was their grandson, and I miss them every time I come here. Not in a bad way, of course, but this house is full of fond memories and it’s always nice to be back.”

“Well, I’m glad this place is important enough to Lydia that she decided to keep it,” Stiles said, grinning widely when Derek sent him a questioning look. “We wouldn’t have been able to come here if she hadn’t been renting it out, would we? And then Alec and Andrew would have never met the loves of their lives, and I- Let’s just say I’m not completely unhappy to be here either.”

Derek stared at him for a long moment then, his gaze drifting from Stiles’ eyes to his cheeks to his mouth – and god, it _lingered_ on his mouth – before going back to his eyes. Stiles swallowed the sudden rush of emotions that crashed into him at the sight of Derek Hale looking at him like that. It wasn’t like he loved the man or anything; wasn’t like he was even attached to him.

However, he had eyes, and he knew how beautiful the man was, and he also knew how kind, thoughtful, smart, compassionate… Derek was just a good guy, and Stiles had every right to be attracted to him, no matter how unlikely it was that things would work out between them. Even if Derek wasn’t interested in Alec – and after the dinner, Stiles was sure he wasn’t – it didn’t mean he was interested in _Stiles_.

But if he was offering friendship? If he was offering to get to know Stiles and admitting that he didn’t completely hate the younger man’s company either? Well, Stiles wasn’t about to say no to that.

“Has Hawkhurst grown on you?” Derek finally asked, and there was something about his voice… Something that almost implied he hoped it wasn’t Hawkhurst that had grown on Stiles. He wasn’t wrong, of course, but Stiles wasn’t sure he wanted to go there, not when he was still half-convinced Derek had originally wanted to go out with Alec.

“Sure,” he shrugged, not wanting to get into the details of why he loved the town so much – time with his friends, the Martin fiancées, _Derek_. “I still think I’ll be glad to go home when the time comes for us to get the hell out of here. Don’t get me wrong, the people here are great and I’ll admit that the area isn’t as bad as I first assumed it would be, but I love my job and I love the States. Or at least as much as a person can love the States whilst also remaining sane.”

“Fair enough,” Derek chuckled. “I miss Beacon Hills too. That town has grown too much on me for such a ran down place with more murder mysteries than any other city in California.”

“Wait- _Beacon Hills_ ,” Stiles gaped. He had known Derek and he had only barely missed each other, but he hadn’t realised how truly close they had been. “Dude, we used to live in the same town and neither of us ever saw the other? How is that even possible? I know everyone from Beacon Hills!”

“Seriously?” Derek’s eyes widened minutely. “That’s- I had no idea. But to answer your question, I was almost a recluse when I first reached California. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my life, so I focused on my degree and rented a small apartment and stayed out of everyone’s way.”

“Woah, that’s still absolutely insane,” Stiles said quietly, trying to wrap his head around Derek Hale living in little old Beacon Hills. Derek seemed too big for a place like that. He seemed like the kind of person who should be living his best life in a big city, not wandering through the woods at night. Although maybe Derek didn’t wander through the woods; his dad had always said Stiles just lacked the self-preservation everyone else in the town had. “Actually, you probably know my dad, since he’s the Sheriff and makes sure that everyone knows who he is.”

“ _Stilinski?_ Your dad named you Stiles Stilinski? How did I not make the connection before?” Derek raised his eyebrows incredulously, not that Stiles could blame him. It wasn’t the first time he had heard that question, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last.

“It’s a nickname,” Stiles shrugged. “My first name is a mouthful, so I never use it. And I mean, it’s not like you knew I was from Beacon Hills when I first introduced myself, so I’ll give you a pass, as long as you promise to keep an eye on my dad when you go back home.”

“Sure,” Derek answered immediately, leaving Stiles a little dumbstruck.

“I wasn’t- I mean- Buddy, I was _kidding_ ,” Stiles said stupidly, before recovering and blushing at Derek’s unimpressed look. “I mean, I appreciate it, but I’m sure my dad can look after himself.”

“Well clearly not, if you’re asking me to look out for him,” Derek huffed, although he didn’t push any further or ask for an explanation, which Stiles appreciated more than he could properly express. “So, were the teachers at the high school always terrifying or are my students just making things up to make me go easy on them after a long day of work?”

“Probably a bit of both,” Stiles chuckled, and then he was launching himself into a detailed retelling of everything that had happened whilst he was still in Beacon Hills. After all, the teachers really _had_ been a little strange, and Stiles wasn’t above using that as a way to connect even more with Derek.

He had no idea how long they stayed there, talking to each other and laughing and smiling and enjoyed the other’s company but, when he woke up the next day, he had been tucked into his bed even though he couldn’t remember making his way up the stairs. His sheets smelt faintly of Derek, his shirt had been folded up neatly, and a phone number had been written neatly onto a post-it note.

He couldn’t have wiped the smile off his face even if he had wanted to. Perhaps the dinner hadn’t been such a bad idea after all; he would have to make sure to thank Andrew for his wonderful initiative.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya guys! Thank you so much for reading! I've had this scene in mind for a while and, even though a part of me isn't completely satisfied with it, I actually do like how it turned out. Juggling the different relationships was a bit of a hassle, but I managed to get both the Sterek and the Magnus/Lorenzo tensions in, which was my main goal. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!
> 
> Love, Junie.


	10. Chapter 10

When Alec had chosen Hawkhurst as their vacation destination, he had thought he would spend the entire month locked away in their house, occasionally taking a trip around the countryside. He hadn’t expected to get to know the locals, and he hadn’t expected to _like them_.

He certainly hadn’t expected to spend most of his time at the Hawkhurst coffee shop, a small place full of charm and delicious goods. He had fallen in love with the place as soon as Magnus had taken him there and had come back time and time again even when his boyfriend – _boyfriend_ – was busy with wedding preparations. The ceremony was less than two weeks away, and Alec understood why the man was so busy helping his sisters, even if it meant they had only gone on three dates so far.

Thankfully, Magnus wasn’t the only person who had taken a liking to him. He had Stiles and Andrew, of course, although the latter spent almost all of his time with Lorenzo, but he also had a few new friends. He had Kira, a shy but strong woman who happened to be a close friend of Magnus’ as well as an amazing conversationalist. He had Lydia, who often found him when she was trying to get away from the wedding madness. And, most importantly, he had Madzie – and Catarina, by association.

The little girl was adorably smitten with him, and he had to admit he was rather enamoured by his boyfriend’s goddaughter too. Madzie was one of the cutest children Alec had ever met; she was smart, curious, but also kind and polite enough to know when to back off. She was always chattering away, telling Alec about her favourite things in the world and everything that she was doing at school. Catarina had been slightly reluctant to leave Alec alone with Madzie at first – which he could completely understand – but he had eventually been left to look over her when Catarina needed to run errands.

Which was how he found himself talking to Madzie early on a Sunday morning as Catarina wandered to the marketplace. Madzie usually liked going with her mother, but she had apparently had a nightmare the night before and had been unable to get back to sleep, which meant she was tired and more than a little grumpy at 9 that morning.

“I want a cookie,” she pouted, glaring fiercely at Alec when he didn’t relent, keeping his arms folded over his chest patiently. He had plenty of experience dealing with small children from his time taking care of his little brother, and Madzie wasn’t about to break through his impenetrable defences. “Mum said I could have one if I behaved.”

“Did she now?” Alec raised his eyebrows. They both knew Madzie was bluffing and, although he was impressed by her attempt at subterfuge, he wasn’t about to be fooled. “See, I distinctly remember your mom telling me not to give you anything with too much sugar before lunch time, and as far as I’m aware, it’s only just past 9.”

“But I want a cookie,” Madzie repeated slightly louder, a temper tantrum clearly in the works. Alec had managed to avoid those thus far, and he really didn’t want to have to deal with one now, but he also refused to cave. Madzie was old enough and smart enough to know there were reasons why she couldn’t have a cookie this early; she was just cranky.

“We can’t always get what we want,” Alec reminded her, because he felt like that was an important lesson parents taught their children. “Besides, then you won’t be hungry when lunch comes, and we both know your mom makes the best meals. How will she feel if you can’t even finish your lunch because you decided you wanted to have a cookie?”

“I don’t care,” Madzie whined, her pleading gaze straying back to the display of pastries and baked goods. “The coffee shop has the best cookies, and I want one.”

Alec sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, suddenly remembering why he had always refused to take Jace’s kids in when he went away. As cute as children could be, and as much as Alec wanted one of his own someday, he just didn’t want to deal with other parents’ problems when he was supposed to be relaxing.

And alright, maybe he was feeling a little more grumpy than usual because he hadn’t seen Magnus in three days, the man too busy with Lydia’s family arriving and causing a bit of a fuss. So whilst dealing with Madzie wouldn’t have really annoyed him on any other day, he was sick of not seeing his boyfriend and couldn’t think of anything he wanted to do less than argue with an eight-year-old.

“Look Madzie, I’m sorry, but you can’t get a cookie,” he said softly. “However, we could get you something to drink? I’ve had their hot chocolate before, and it probably has a lot less sugar in it than a cookie does, so… What do you think? Compromise?”

Madzie frowned for a few moments, her brows furrowing adorably as she clearly tried to decide whether she was being ripped off or not. When her features smoothed over and were replaced by a small and sheepish smile, Alec all but wept in relief. He should have known the solution would be as easy as that; when in doubt, bribery was always an acceptable way to resolve problems.

“Perfect,” he grinned, standing up and finishing off his cup of coffee before heading towards the counter, Madzie trotting behind him dutifully.

It only took them a few minutes to get a small chocolate drink for the little girl as well as a refill for Alec, and then they were heading back towards the table, Madzie looking decidedly happier as she sipped at her hot cocoa. Alec’s heart softened at the sight, his frustration fading as he took in her smile and milk moustache. Damn her for being so cute. It was going to get her out of a lot of trouble when she grew up – hell, it probably already did.

“Mum told me Uncle Magnus is busy,” Madzie said after a few minutes of silence. Alec blinked dazedly at the non-sequitur but quietly waited for the little girl to go on and explain what she was trying to get at. “She also told me he wanted to see you. She rolled her eyes like it was a bad thing, even though I think it’s pretty cool that you’re spending time with Magnus. Do you _like_ him?”

Alec’s heart skipped a beat, and he felt a blush rise on his cheeks at the reminder of his relationship with Magnus. He wasn’t sure why no one had told Madzie about the recent development in their relationship, but he supposed now was as good a time as any.

“I do,” he said softly, thinking about Magnus’ smile and his beautiful eyes and the way he looked when Alec said something he found funny. “I really do. And luckily for me, he likes me too. And you want to know a secret?” Madzie nodded enthusiastically, her eyes wide as she leaned over the table to hear Alec better. “I want to see him too. I _always_ want to see him, which is why your mom thinks it’s ridiculous.”

“Oh,” Madzie said, looking adorably confused, as though she couldn’t quite understand what her mother found stupid about Alec and Magnus’ relationship. “But why? Lydia and Maia always want to spend time with each other, and that’s okay, because they love each other.”

Alec’s breath hitched in his throat at the word. It wasn’t that he didn’t think he couldn’t – wouldn’t – grow to love Magnus, because his heart was honestly already halfway there, but it was… It was fast, and Catarina had a point. They shouldn’t have been so excited to see each other all the time, not so soon in their relationship. It wasn’t how any of Alec’s past boyfriends had been, and he didn’t think Magnus had been as intense with his other partners either.

So he knew it was fast. He knew they were moving at a pace that surpassed even Lorenzo and Andrew’s, since those two had yet to _kiss_ – much to the younger man’s despair – but he couldn’t find it in himself to care. He could, however, find it in himself to panic about the depth of his feelings. If Magnus knew he was already thinking about the ‘love’ word, he didn’t want to think about how the man might react.

Very well, or very badly.

“Your mom… She’s just worried because Magnus and I haven’t know each other for very long,” he eventually told Madzie. “I mean, I only met him a few weeks ago and I’m already spending most of my time with him, even though I have other friends I could be seeing. We like each other a lot, and I think your mom just wants to make sure I won’t do anything that’ll hurt Magnus.”

“Why would you hurt him?” Madzie huffed. “It doesn’t make sense. People who like each other shouldn’t hurt each other, like my mum never hurts me and I never hurt her.”

It was such an innocent outlook on life, and yet Alec found himself wishing more people still had the same mindset as Madzie. She had a point, after all; people who loved each other shouldn’t go around causing each other pain. It was never that simple, but he could understand where the little girl was coming from.

“Sometimes, we don’t do it on purpose,” he explained, grimacing when Madzie rolled her eyes at him.

“Well it’s stupid,” she scoffed, and Alec wasn’t going to argue with _that_. Instead, he let a comfortable silence settle over the two of them. He drank his coffee, watched over Madzie as she finished her hot chocolate and rested her head on the table tiredly, and thought over everything that had happened in the past few weeks.

He lost himself in thoughts of Magnus and their relationship and this magical town that had drawn three brothers to him and his friends. He had no idea how long he stayed there, staring at nothing as he wondered whether or not this was Fate at play or if the world simply worked in mysterious ways.

“Alec,” Catarina’s voice was sharp and amused as she spoke, and Alec winced as he realised this probably wasn’t the first time she had tried to talk to him. “Well, you look just about as tired as Madzie. Did she wear you out?”

Alec opened his mouth, about to mention the little girl’s stubborn streak when it came to a certain cookie, but then he looked at Madzie and her exhausted eyes, and he swallowed the comment down. Instead, he smiled and shook his head, drinking the last of his cold coffee with a wince as he stood.

“Nothing like that,” he assured Catarina, winking conspiratorially at Madzie who giggled quietly. “I was just lost in thought. A lot has happened over the past few weeks, and I think I needed a second to try and sort it out. Did you have a nice time at the market? A little birdy told me your crush is in town and was planning on trying to meet up with you today, so…”

“You were in on it?” Catarina gaped, swatting at Alec’s arm playfully as her cheeks flushed a dark red. “I should have known Magnus would tell you about it, and I should have suspected you were up to something when you agreed to wake up early just to see Madzie. No one is _that_ eager to look after my daughter, no matter how cute she may be.”

“No one was in on anything,” Alec chuckled. “Erica, that’s her name right? Erica didn’t exactly consult us to ask for our opinion, and I’ve never even met the woman. Besides, from what Magnus told me, she isn’t the type of girl to listen to others when it comes to her own life and decisions.”

“Understatement of the year,” Catarina snorted, composing herself when Madzie shot her a curious glance. “I mean, she tends to do whatever she wants whenever it pleases her, so I’m well aware you couldn’t have stopped her even if you wanted to. I just can’t believe no one thought to tell me that she was back in town.”

“The wedding’s coming up,” Alec pointed out, because he assumed that was what the infamous Erica was back in town for. “Surely, you knew she was invited? Magnus made it seem like she was quite close to one of the brides, although I can’t remember which one.”

“Maia,” Catarina smiled softly. “Those two and the rest of their group were inseparable back in high school. Honestly, I should have expected to run into her at some point; I just wasn’t ready for… well, everything that comes with Erica.”

“More than a crush, then?” Alec raised his eyebrows. He wasn’t as curious as Stiles, but he had to admit there was something thrilling about keeping up with the town gossip, especially since the locals weren’t shy when it came to ratting their neighbours out. “Sounds like the two of you might have something going on, if she’s actively seeking you out.”

“We’re… Yeah, I’m not sure,” Catarina shrugged. “We like each other and have ever shied away from that, and we usually go on at least one date when she’s in town, but neither of us have ever talked about taking things further. She actually asked me out earlier; I just need to find a babysitter to take care of Madzie and tell her when I’m free.”

“That’s great!” Alec exclaimed, always a sucker for a good love story. Luckily for him, this town had plenty. “And if you need a babysitter…”

Madzie’s eyes lit up, obviously hearing the words Alec wasn’t saying. She tugged at her mother’s arm excitedly, bouncing up and down and widening her eyes pleadingly as she looked from Catarina to Alec and back again. A part of Alec preened at the attention even as he tried not to laugh at Catarina’s exasperated features.

“Use your words, Madzie,” she sighed, but Alec could see she was fighting a losing battle against a smile. “If you want something, you’re going to have to ask for it a little more clearly than that, no matter how cute you are.”

She booped her daughter’s nose as she spoke, eliciting a soft giggle from Madzie who stopped bouncing on her heels and turned to look at Alec seriously instead.

“Will you babysit me when mum and Erica go out on a date?” She asked as though the question were one of extreme importance. Then again, in her eyes, maybe it was. “You’re a lot more fun than Lydia sometimes, and she’s busy with the wedding, and you could even… Oh, mum! Could we ask Uncle Magnus to babysit too? You told me he wanted to see Alec again, and we could spend the evening together, all three of us, and it would be _amazing_! Please, mum?”

She pulled out her best puppy eyes, and this time Alec had to cough to hide his laughter. He already knew Catarina would agree, but the woman let her daughter stew for a few seconds, tapping her chin as though she wasn’t sure whether she was going to accept such a tough offer.

“Do you think you’ll manage to behave for the both of them?” Catarina frowned, and Alec could see a real hint of concern in her features. He couldn’t say he blamed Catarina for being a little dubious, since Madzie was already hyperactive when it was just Alec, and she was probably even worse when it came to her godfather. “Because I don’t want them to regret their offer and never accept to look after you again because you weren’t on your best behaviour.”

“I’ll be the best of the best!” Madzie promised, looking at her mother hopefully and sending a small smile in Alec’s direction. “I just want to spend time with Uncle Magnus and Alec, please? I’ll even eat all of my veggies if that’s what they make for dinner.”

Even as she spoke, Alec knew they wouldn’t be going anywhere near vegetables with Magnus around. He had heard his boyfriend speak about Madzie, and he treated her like she was worth the world. He spoiled her rotten and would probably cave and give her ice cream late at night, making their job that much harder. Not that Alec was about to say no to a joint babysitting job with his boyfriend. He couldn’t think of anything he would rather be doing during his free time – or at least nothing they could do with Madzie thrown in the mix.

“Fine,” Catarina sighed, smiling gratefully at Alec when he nodded at Madzie, letting her know he would love to babysit her. “I’m going to regret this so much when I come home and find her coming down from an ice-cream induced sugar high…”

Alec burst into giggles and Madzie grinned happily, and then they were finalising the plans for that Tuesday, both of them smiling as they convinced Catarina to let her date with Erica last a _little longer_ , just a little more, and maybe they could go out for drinks and-

By the end of their conversation, Alec had been roped into looking after Madzie with Magnus for a grand total of six hours, and he had never been prouder of himself.

(He even high-fived Madzie on their way out of the coffee shop, slipping her a cookie when her mother wasn’t looking.)

* * *

“And you should make sure she’s in bed by-”

“Yes, Catarina, we know!” Magnus cut his best friend off, sharing a fondly exasperated look with Alec when the woman checked her phone again, wanting to make sure Erica hadn’t cancelled on her last minute. “Now leave and go have fun with your girlfriend. She’s going to think you stood her up if you’re any later than you already are.”

“I’m not- _Oh my god_ , why didn’t you tell me I was late?!” The woman was rushing out of the house before Alec and Magnus could answer, pressing one last kiss to Madzie’s head before she disappeared, looking harried and excited and flushed.

Alec had no idea who this Erica woman was, but he hoped she was as good as everyone had told him she was, because Catarina deserved someone just as epic as her. And someone who loved Madzie, of course. Alec narrowed his eyes at the little girl, tilting his head to the side as he wondered whether or not it would be appropriate to ask her about her mother’s love life.

Before he could make up his mind, however, Magnus kneeled in front of his goddaughter with a mischievous smirk plastered on his face.

“So, my favourite little mermaid,” he said softly, grinning at Alec when the younger man snorted at his antics. “Tell me, does Erica come in town often? Do you see her? Have you spent time with her?”

“Uncle Magnus,” Madzie rolled her eyes as well as an eight-year-old could – which was to say, expertly. “I see Auntie Erica more than I see _you_. She was here when I gave my presentation on the aquarium at school, and she even made me a chocolate cake shaped like a fish to celebrate my good grade! I got an A!”

“So you like her?” Magnus prodded further, ignoring the comment about how little Madzie saw him. Alec, however, didn’t miss the way his shoulders tensed slightly, as though he had been expecting his goddaughter to talk about his absence at some point but was determined to forget about it. “You think she’s good for your mom?”

“I think she’s the _best_ for mum,” Madzie nodded. “But can we watch a movie? Or go to the park? Or do something fun? Mum always tells me love is for adults and that I can’t understand what’s going on with her and Erica. She also told me you shouldn’t ask about things that aren’t any of your business.”

It was clear that the young girl was repeating her mother’s words verbatim, and Alec snickered when Magnus flushed, cleared his throat, and stood back up, narrowing his eyes at Alec along the way.

“Right, so a movie?” He suggested, the change of subject about as subtle as his outfit – his royal purple and _gold_ outfit. “What’s your favourite right now?”

“The Little Mermaid,” Madzie huffed, as though the answer should have been obvious. And in a way… In a way, maybe it should have. Maybe Madzie felt like her godfather should know all about her life, even though it was clear Magnus didn’t spend as much time in England as Alec had originally assumed he did. “Ariel has the prettiest hair. I want hair just like hers when I grow up.”

“Nonsense,” Alec huffed, ruffling Madzie’s hair and shooting a concerned look in Magnus’ direction at his forlorn gaze. “Your locks are beautiful just the way they are, and they wouldn’t look half as cool if they looked like Ariel’s hair. Besides, I think you would look _much_ cooler with blue hair than red.”

Madzie cocked her head to the side, clearly considering Alec’s words. When she nodded, he cheered victoriously, grinning widely when she laughed at his dramatics.

“Can I get blue hair _now_?” She asked, and Alec gaped at her for a few seconds as Magnus snickered behind him. The younger man barely took a second to glare at his boyfriend before focusing on Madzie again, kneeling in front of her and shaking his head seriously.

“You’d have to ask your mom about that,” Alec explained as gently as possible, not wanting to upset Madzie but also knowing there was no _way_ they were going to dye an eight-year-old’s hair blue, godfather’s approval or not. “It would be rude of us to do something like this without asking her first, and I’m sure she would want to be there to see the magic happen.”

“Fine,” Madzie pouted, and Alec sighed relievedly when the girl didn’t push the topic, instead pushing both adults towards the living room and throwing herself onto the couch happily. “Can we paint our nails blue, then?”

Alec grimaced, but he knew he would be arguing for nothing if he tried to deny her this simple pleasure, especially given who his partner in crime for the night was. Indeed, when he turned towards Magnus, the man was beaming at his goddaughter, obviously delighted at the idea of getting a mani-pedi from Madzie.

“That sounds like a wonderful idea, little fish,” he said cheerfully. “I’m going to fetch your mom’s supplies, so why don’t you put the movie in with Alec in the meantime? That way we can watch the movie _and_ paint our nails at the same time.”

Madzie jumped up excitedly, brandishing the Little Mermaid DVD with a huge smile and waving it at Alec impatiently as Magnus sauntered off with a snort.

Ten minutes later, they were sitting on the sofa with mismatched nails, cuddled together as they waited for their first hands to dry. The movie was just as Alec remembered it, but he had to admit there was something different about watching it with Magnus and Madzie. It felt more… just _more_. It filled his heart with an emotion he wasn’t quite ready to focus on and made his stomach flutter in a mixture of nerves and fondness.

As much as he had dreaded getting his nails painted by Madzie – and even by Magnus, who he had thought would choose the most outrageous colours – he was pleasantly surprised with what both of them had achieved so far. It was certainly better than his ‘masterpiece’ currently adorning Madzie’s left fingers. At least they had all gone for blue, which meant Alec hadn’t done _too_ bad in terms of theme.

Madzie had still teased him about how much better Magnus was at nail art than he was, unaware that she had awakened the competitive beast sleeping in Alec’s chest. He had stared at Magnus’ smug smile and had let a smirk slowly curl at his lips, enjoying the way his boyfriend’s pupils had dilated and his mouth had parted slightly.

And then he had proceeded to thoroughly _destroy_ Magnus at Disney lyrics. He might not have been a particularly good singer, and his artistic talents left a lot to be desire, but he could belt through ‘Under the Sea’ as well as anyone could, and he had the advantage of knowing most Disney animated movie songs by heart, courtesy of Izzy and his niece.

“How on earth do you even _know_ these?” Magnus whined as Ursula appeared on the screen and Alec immediately started singing along to ‘Poor Unfortunate Souls’. Madzie was staring at him delightedly, trying to follow his lead as best as possible and clapping after every musical number. “Did you get ready for this? Did you force Andrew and Stiles to watch it with you and then quiz you on the lyrics? There’s no way this is just a talent of yours.”

“Oh Magnus, you underestimate me,” Alec winked at his boyfriend, dancing in his seat to the song’s rhythm and ignoring Magnus’ spluttering. He had a little girl to impress, and he couldn’t do that if he was talking to his boyfriend. The man would have to wait until his goddaughter was in bed to enjoy Alec’s company, because he wasn’t leaving her side until he had been declared the cooler adult.

“You’re _on_ ,” Magnus hissed, his eyes lighting up with glee as Madzie asked him to paint her remaining nails.

He then proceeded to give her one of the best manicures Alec had ever seen, earning her full attention once again. Thankfully, all it took was an offer to braid her hair for Madzie to come bounding back to his side of the couch again.

They went back and forth all evening, outdoing each other at every turn and spoiling Madzie in the process. They cooked her enough food to feed an army of small children, gave her a dessert _each_ , bribed her with movies and games and compliments until they were both too exhausted to keep going and Madzie was yawning in between the two of them, asking to be taken to bed.

“Can you read me a story? Together?” She asked them softly, her eyes already drooping as Magnus tucked her underneath her covers.

Alec didn’t even hesitate before sitting on the other side of her bed, stroking her hair gently and smiling at her sleepy features. She looked determined to get a bedtime story, but Alec knew she would probably drop off before they could even get five sentences out between the two of them.

Indeed, after Magnus half-heartedly started a story about a princess and Alec added in a female knight determined to save the princess from the castle she lived in, Madzie fell asleep, her arms wrapped tightly around the nemo plushy Alec learned had been given to her by Magnus for her fifth birthday. He hadn’t been there in person, she had explained when her godfather had been taking care of dinner, but he had sent her a mountain of gifts and had then showed up during the summer to make up for his absence. She hadn’t even blamed him, claiming that her uncle was ‘very busy and important’ and couldn’t afford to miss work.

If Alec hadn’t already been falling for Magnus, he certainly would have been by the end of the night. Magnus was great with kids, or at least with Madzie, and he obviously had a playful streak as wide as Alec’s. The younger man hadn’t had this much fun outside of his work adventures in years, and he would be lying if he said he hadn’t thoroughly enjoyed it.

“So… Not too bad for a fourth date, huh?” Magnus asked him as they closed Madzie’s bedroom door and headed back towards the kitchen. They had already decided to treat themselves to a nice glass of wine, but Alec was mostly looking forward to the company. “I mean, I know it doesn’t have anything on a private evening, but Madzie’s a good kid and she clearly adores you already.”

“I quite like her too,” Alec said softly, glancing at the closed door for a second longer before accepting the glass Magnus was holding out to him. “And you don’t have to worry about doing anything extravagant with me; I’m more than happy to spend time with you and your goddaughter if that’s what you want to do. After all, it’s less about _what_ we do and more about who we do it with, isn’t it?”

Magnus’ smile turned soft and fond, and Alec felt himself blushing. He hadn’t intended to put such a look on his boyfriend’s face, but now that it was there… Well, it wasn’t like he hadn’t kissed Magnus before.

He closed the distance between the two of them quickly, putting his glass down so he could cup Magnus’ cheeks with both his hands, cradling the other man’s face as though it was something precious. And then, slowly, he leaned in and pressed their lips together, keeping the kiss warm and slow and completely undemanding. He wasn’t trying to take things further, not with Madzie in the apartment; he just wanted to feel his boyfriend against him, his warmth seeping into Alec’s clothes.

They stayed entwined for what felt like hours. Their mouths slid together enticingly, their bodies swayed in tandem, and their lips twitched into identical besotted smiles when they finally pulled away from each other.

Silence had settled over the apartment, and Alec didn’t dare to break it. Instead, he breathed in Magnus’ scent and buried his head in the other man’s neck, letting himself rest there contentedly for a few minutes.

“Comfortable, darling?” Magnus chuckled, the movement sending vibrations through Alec’s body. “Because we could always move this party to the couch if you would rather sit down for a little while. Not that I’m complaining about this, believe me, but standing up for so long has never been my strong suit. I’ve always been more of a bed kind of person.”

Alec blushed at the double entendre but didn’t point it out, knowing Magnus would be able to tell he had understood his meaning by the way his cheeks darkened _again_. Instead, he burrowed himself deeper into Magnus’ shoulder, trying to keep his boyfriend in place for as long as possible. Unlike Magnus, he had never had a probable with staying up for hours at a time, perfectly happy to embrace the people he cared about in any and all positions.

“I’m going to fall over, Alexander,” Magnus insisted, although his voice was light and happy and overall completely unbothered.

“’m fine right here,” Alec mumbled into his neck, smiling when Magnus shivered at the touch of breath on skin. “If we move, I’m going to fall asleep and Catarina will never trust us to babysit again.”

“Who’s to say _I_ would fall asleep?” Magnus raised his eyebrows, pushing Alec away so they could stare into each other’s eyes. Magnus’ gaze was strangely intense and intimate, and Alec had to fight against the urge to squirm uncomfortably. It wasn’t that he didn’t like being looked at; he just didn’t really know how to handle a person’s undivided attention.

And clearly, Magnus had plenty of attention to give him.

“You look just as tired as I do, if not more,” Alec deadpanned, smirking when Magnus yawned right on cue, trying to hide the gesture behind a hand but failing miserably. “So no, we’re not going to lie down, no matter how tempting it is to get you under me.”

He had no idea how he got the words out without combusting on the spot, but it was worth it for the way Magnus’ eyes widened and his gaze turned _hungry_. The man even let out a small moan, closer to a low hum than anything else but enough to send desire coursing straight through Alec’s body.

“You’re playing with fire here, darling,” Magnus murmured into Alec’s ear, staying a few inches away as though he wasn’t sure he would manage to keep his hands to himself if his body was pressed against Alec’s again. “Madzie is in the apartment and Catarina is coming home soon, so unless you have a bit of an exhibitionism kink…”

Alec didn’t comment on that, because Magnus and he _definitely_ weren’t at the point in their relationship where Alec felt comfortable talking about his kinks, but he also didn’t deny anything.

“I really don’t want your best friend to walk in on us,” he answered honestly, grimacing at the mere thought of Catarina’s judgemental glare. “And Madzie deserves to have her babysitters on high alert. So if you’re going to stand here and be a distraction, you might as well get on that couch you speak of so highly whilst I finish cleaning up. One of us needs to do it, and you look wrecked.”

“Who’s fault is that?” Magnus grumbled, but he dutifully stepped out of Alec’s embrace and walked towards the living room, probably to clean up the mess they had left there after their manicure session. “If you think this is the end of that conversation, Alexander, you’ve got another thing coming for you. We’re revisiting this as soon as we’re back in the States and in a house that’s entirely one of our own!”

Alec bit down on his bottom lip to stop himself from making an embarrassing sound, but he spent the rest of his clean-up time thinking about all the things they would get up to once they were finally alone and free to do whatever they wished. God, Alec’s imagination had never been so active, and it took all of his self-control not to jump Magnus on the spot and thoroughly ravish him.

It didn’t help that his boyfriend kept sending him coy looks, as though he knew exactly what was going on in Alec’s mind and was ready to take advantage of his fantasies as soon as Alec said the word.

When Catarina burst into the apartment twenty minutes later, the air was thick with sexual tension, but Alec had never been gladder to have listened to his reason rather than his eager body. He _really_ didn’t want to know what Catarina looked like when she was mad, and he especially didn’t want to imagine the face she would have pulled had she walked in on them in a compromising position.

“Damn it, Cat, he was about to cave!” Magnus exclaimed, pointing at his best friend’s chest accusingly. “You’re lucky I love you and Madzie, because the past half hour has been complete and utter torture, and I blame it both on you and your offspring. I’m never babysitting with Alec again.”

“And why is- No, wait, I really don’t want to know,” Catarina cut herself off as she spotted the terrified look on Alec’s face and the mischievous one of Magnus’. “Keep your dirty thoughts to yourselves boys, and please tell me I don’t have to sanitise my furniture.”

“Of course not,” Magnus said mock-offendedly, raising his hands to his chest. “Who do you take us for? We’ve already sanitised everything that needed a… _good cleaning_.”

“Oh my god, Magnus,” Alec groaned lowly, sending an apologetic look in Catarina’s direction. “He’s kidding, of course, we didn’t do anything improper with Madzie in the apartment. However, we _did_ have to take care of a particularly stubborn stain of nail polish on the couch, and I’m not convinced it’s entirely gone.”

“Just get out of here,” Catarina rolled her eyes, shooing them out. “Thank you both, I appreciate your help, but I can’t deal with whatever is going on between the two of you right now. Go have sex in a car or something, I need to crash _hard_ and take care of my own needs after spending an amazing night with an absolute goddess.”

“It went well, then?” Alec asked as he collected his coat and slipped his shoes back on, tying his laces as quickly as possible.

“It went wonderfully, thank you for asking,” Catarina smiled softly. “Erica was as kind, fierce and beautiful as ever, and I’m hopeful this is the time we’ll finally get our relationship figured out. I would have probably invited her over if it wasn’t for Madzie, but well…”

“You should have taken us up on our offer to sleep here and look after her,” Magnus grinned, lacing his fingers with Alec’s and kissing his best friend’s cheek. “Still, I’m glad to hear everything went well. Have a nice night, Cat, we’ll talk to you later. And if you ever need someone to babysit again, you know I’m always happy to spend time with my favourite goddaughter.”

“You’re the best, Magnus, and you too Alec,” Cat nodded at them kindly, and then the door was closing behind them and the two men were finally alone, walking out of the building in companionable silence and smiling at each other softly.

“You should go home before we do something we regret,” Magnus whispered as they stopped in front of Alec’s car. Cat’s comment hadn’t helped matters, and Alec knew he was already semi-hard in his pants. However, Magnus was right; a car wasn’t the proper place to sleep with Magnus for the first time, and neither was a rented house in which his friends were also staying.

“Yeah,” Alec breathed out, leaning over and pressing another series of short and sweet kisses to Magnus’ lips. “I’ll see you soon, alright? Call me.”

He slammed the door of his car shut before he could rethink his decision and waved at Magnus’ laughing shadow as he zoomed away from the apartment, telling himself this was for the best. His first time with Magnus would be perfect, but it wouldn’t happen in England.

That was fine, thought. He and Magnus weren’t in it for a one-night-stand, and he knew they would have plenty of opportunities to take things further once they were back in the States. He could be patient for his and Magnus’ sake.

Who was he kidding? He would wait forever if it made Magnus happy. He was already in deep, and he couldn’t even find it in himself to be scared or angry or worried about what that meant, because this was _Magnus_. This was the man whom he had found himself attracted to from the very beginning, and who had always made his interest obvious in return.

He had nothing to be afraid of.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya guys! Thank you so much for reading! This is my favourite Malec chapter so far, so I hope you all enjoyed it as well. I've been wanting to write Madzie back into the story ever since I introduced her, and I thought this would be the perfect time! As you may or may not have noticed, I updated the number of chapters to have a final count. It should be 16 total, but there's still a chance that could change, we'll have to say. Thanks again for reading (:
> 
> Love, Junie.


	11. Chapter 11

Lorenzo’s friends were in town.

It wasn’t like Andrew had been taken by surprise; his boyfriend had told him they would be arriving a little over a week before the wedding, and they had arrived precisely nine days before the biggest event of the year. However, the two week notice hadn’t been enough for Andrew to prepare himself for the meeting that would undoubtedly ruin his relationship with Lorenzo.

One thing he had learned through his past relationships was that he was _terrible_ at meeting the family. Or in this case, the friends. It had been one thing to meet the brothers that Lorenzo couldn’t stand; it was a whole other to meet the people he actually cared about.

These were the people Andrew had to impress, and he honestly wasn’t sure that he had anything to impress them _with_. The most interesting thing about him was his job, and he really didn’t want to talk about the FBI with Lorenzo’s friends. Everyone loved hearing about all the missions he had been on, but he didn’t want his boyfriend’s friends to like him because of what he did for a living; he wanted them to like him because of who he was.

Which brought him back to square one of panic and fear, because Andrew really wasn’t much. He was decent-looking, quite smart, and occasionally funny. He was awkward around strangers, kind to those he loved, and tried his best to show respect to everyone he met. He was a good guy, as his friends had often told him, but he wasn’t the ‘cool’ guy.

He wasn’t fun like Stiles or naturally captivating like Alec, and he had no idea why Lorenzo’s friends should even give him the time of day.

“Dude,” Stiles sighed over his bowl of cereal. “You’re not going on trial, alright? You’re just having a game night with Lorenzo and his friends. I know meeting the family is a big step, but the guy _adores_ _you_ and I’m sure his little gang will just be happy to see him happy.”

“Or they’ll judge me for being one of the most boring people on the planet,” Andrew pointed out, stabbing at his toast viciously and wondering if faking an illness was socially acceptable. “Lorenzo seems to love them so much, and I’m honestly not much to look at.”

“Thankfully, you’re not trying to woo them,” Alec rolled his eyes, sipping at his coffee calmly. “You’ve already got the man, Andrew, this is just a small step that’ll be over before you know it. You don’t even have to like all their friends; angel knows that I don’t get Magnus’ relationship with Lydia, no matter how kind she may be. As long as they understand that you love their friend, you have nothing to worry about.”

“Or that you like him a lot, at least,” Stiles piped up, looking at Alec exasperatedly. “You’ve only been together for a month, after all, so I don’t expect you to go around dropping the L bomb quite yet. So even if you just like him a lot, I’m sure his friends will be cool with it. Also, try not to completely destroy them at game night, alright? We all know you’re amazing at board games, but given Lorenzo’s personality, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that his friends are just as… extravagant.”

“He means arrogant,” Alec corrected, shrugging unrepentantly when Andrew shot him a warning glance. “I’m not saying it’s necessarily a terrible thing, just that his friends might be a lot to handle all at once. Let them win at least _one_ game and try not to partner up with Lorenzo for every team game.”

“God, I’m not completely incompetent,” Andrew pouted. “I’ve dated before, you know, and I’m well aware that showing off my game skills to my boyfriend’s friends isn’t the best plan if they’re all as competitive as the two of you are.”

“I’m not competitive!” Stiles exclaimed mock-offendedly. “I just happen to think it’s impossible for you to win all the games without cheating at least once in a while. No one is _that_ good, not even you.”

“Correction,” Andrew grinned cockily. “No one is that good, _except_ me. Face it, Stilinski, you’ll never match my board game skills. If our boyfriends didn’t hate each other so much, I would challenge the two of you to a couple board game competition as soon as we got back to the States.”

“Not my boyfriend!”

“I thought I made it clear that I never wanted to have a game night with you again,” Alec raised his eyebrows. “The entire team was traumatised after the last one, and I really don’t care to repeat the experience again. You’re a great friend Andrew, but even I have my limits when it comes to being destroyed repeatedly at Clue.”

“Cowards,” Andrew chuckled. “But back to the point; do you think I should bring something tonight? I’ve been bringing wine to Lorenzo’s every few days, but what if one of his friends doesn’t drink? What if one of them is pregnant? What if they don’t like the red I bought? What if there’s not enough?”

“Oh my god, please stop talking,” Alec muttered. “I thought Stiles was bad, but apparently you’re even worse when it comes to your love life. At least _he_ isn’t ranting about Derek all the time.”

“To be fair, I talk to myself about Derek pretty much every night before I go to bed,” Stiles said, earning himself matching exasperated looks from Alec and Andrew. “Just saying, I don’t blame Andrew for being a little nervous. Lorenzo himself is already quite an intimidating person outside of his obvious crush on Andrew, so there’s a good chance his friends are just as intense.”

“And you think you’re helping… how?” Alec huffed, whacking the back of Stiles’ head lightly. “We’re trying to make Andrew feel better, not worse.”

“Sorry for being realistic,” Stiles mumbled. “If Andrew wanted platitudes, he wouldn’t have brought up his game date when I was around. Although at least you’re not panicking about your outfit this time; I suppose that’s progress.”

“Or I just haven’t had the time to worry about that yet,” Andrew pointed out. Game night was over ten hours away, which meant he had plenty of time to work himself into an outfit-related frenzy. “You know what, I don’t think I want to talk about this anymore. Why don’t we talk about something else? Something that has nothing to do with Lorenzo, game night, the friends I’m going to meet, or my impending break-up.”

“You’re delusional if you think Lorenzo is going to break up with you,” Stiles snorted, although he dutifully zipped his mouth shut when Alec sent him one of his patented ‘stop with the bullshit’ looks. It was one of Andrew’s favourites – except when it was being aimed at him, obviously. “But fine, let’s move onto an easier topic. For example… Oh, I made a new friend yesterday!”

“You did?” Alec’s brows flew up, and Andrew barely contained a similar reaction. “I thought you weren’t leaving the house anymore, something about running into meddling siblings or whatever else it is you were talking about. Or maybe it has something to do with the fact that you can’t keep your eyes off your phone anymore. I swear you look down at it every two minutes. Waiting for a message from your not-boyfriend?”

“My texting habits are none of your business, no matter what I may or may not be doing with Derek,” Stiles said haughtily, his eyes flicking to his phone again. This time, Andrew didn’t even try to hide his laughter. “Right, laugh it off, but we all know you’re not any better. The only reason you’re not constantly on your phone is because Lorenzo is your boyfriend and therefore takes you out on dates. I, on the other hand, have to accept that Derek and I will never be more than texting partners.”

“Oh please,” Andrew scoffed. “The two of you obviously like each other; it’s only a matter of time before you pull your heads out of your asses and realise that you’re both into each other. Luckily for you, I really don’t want to hear the fifteenth retelling of yours and Derek’s tragic love story, so why don’t you tell me about this new friend instead?”

“His name is Simon,” Stiles answered immediately, smiling brightly. “He’s one of the many wedding-goers. He grew up in Hawkhurst but moved to London as soon as he was old enough to get the hell out of here, and he seems like a pretty chill guy. He plays in a band, likes video games, and designs characters for a living.”

“Ah yes, this friendship makes so much more sense now,” Alec smirked. “You’ve found a fellow geek in this town full of British people who care more about the wedding than anything else. I’m surprised you didn’t drag him back here for a game or two.”

“I thought about it,” Stiles admitted. “But I didn’t want to spring someone on you without warning, especially someone like Simon who I’m almost positive would get on your nerves. And by ‘your’, I mean Alec’s, of course. I’m sure you and Simon would get along just fine, Andrew. I hope you get to meet him soon.”

Something about the twinkle in Stiles’ eyes set Andrew on edge, but he knew he wouldn’t get anything out of his friend if the younger man didn’t want to speak, so he didn’t push. He was sure he would meet this Simon fellow when the time came; maybe they could talk at the wedding or something. For now, Andrew just had to get through a specific meeting with three people.

The rest of the town and the party of wedding-goers would have to wait a while longer.

“He’s actually here with his boyfriend,” Stiles continued, always willing to fill the silence when no one else was. “I didn’t meet the guy, but he’s apparently Simon’s polar opposite. From what I caught he’s a bit tougher on the outside and not into the whole gaming thing, but Simon sang his praises like the man was the second coming of Jesus or something.”

“I’m assuming this Simon is around our age, right?” Alec asked, perking up and sending Stiles a significant look that the younger man answered with a small nod and a quick uptick of his lips. “And his friend too? Did they grow up together?”

“That they did,” Stiles beamed at Alec as though the man had just made his day. “You’re a smart one, Lightwood. Anyways, Simon and Jackson – that’s the boyfriend’s name, by the way – are both your age and grew up here, although I think Jackson moved away before the end of high school.”

“God, this Simon really _is_ another you, isn’t he?” Andrew shook his head amusedly. “I’ve never met anyone who overshares as much as you do, but you’ve apparently found your match. Are you sure Derek is the man for you? Because I’m pretty sure you could hit it off with this new guy.”

“This new guy who’s madly in love with his boyfriend? Yeah, no thank you,” Stiles snorted. “Besides, I like Derek.”

“We know,” Alec and Andrew said in tandem.

“Also, two of you would be far too much for us to handle,” Alec added. “I mean, you talk enough for the three of us already, so getting a boyfriend who chatters just as much would be overkill.”

“I’m not the one who hogged the conversation when we had our double-date and two fifth-wheels dinner,” Stiles crossed his arms over his chest defensively, glancing between Alec and Andrew pointedly. “I’m pretty sure the best way to fill silence is to put your boyfriends in a room together. Those two could insult each other for days if they were given the chance.”

“ _Please_ don’t bring that up again,” Alec groaned.

They had talked about the dinner for an entire week after it had happened, Stiles teasing the two older men for choosing boyfriends who hated each other so thoroughly. He had pointed out that it would make their weddings awfully awkward and, even though Andrew hadn’t thought about marrying Lorenzo quite yet, he had to admit Stiles wasn’t wrong.

Dating brothers who couldn’t stand to be in the same room as each other wouldn’t end well, and Andrew wondered if his and Alec’s friendship would remain as strong as it currently was if their respective relationships lasted.

“Would you rather talk about the game night, then?” Stiles beamed, his eyes sparkling with mischief, and Andrew was suddenly reminded of why he had once locked Stiles up in their hotel room whilst they were out on a mission. “Oh come on, don’t give me that look. You know you love me.”

“For reasons I seriously don’t understand,” Andrew muttered, easily dodging the handful of cereals Stiles tried sending his way. “You’ve got terrible aim for an FBI agent who’s supposed to know how to shoot a gun, Stilinski.”

“I really don’t think you should talk about shooting to him, Underhill,” Alec cut in with a wicked grin. “We all know who has the worst aim here, and it certainly isn’t Stiles.”

“Are you implying that _Stiles Stilinski_ is a better shot than I am?” Andrew gaped, staring at Alec in utter betrayal. “That might be the most offensive thing you’ve ever said to me, Lightwood, and let me remind you that you once told me my social skills were as bad as Greenberg’s.”

“I knew you’d have my back,” Stiles smiled, high-fiving Alec and sticking his tongue out at Andrew. “Take that, newbie.”

The nickname was even less effective now than it had been when Andrew had first joined the team, but he took it in stride, easily making a joke about how old Stiles was in terms of FBI experience. The banter between them was familiar, as was the way Alec leaned back in his chair and determinedly tried to stay out of their argument, only interjecting to occasionally humiliate them.

They spent the rest of their morning – and a good portion of their afternoon – together, Stiles and Andrew bickering over petty things before ganging up to get on Alec’s nerves as the other man tried to work. By the time the evening came around and Andrew had to get ready for his night with Lorenzo and his friends, he had mostly forgotten about the butterflies in his stomach, and he was feeling a lot more confident about meeting the people Lorenzo loved most in the world.

As he came back downstairs after a long shower and ten outfit changes, his hair curling at his temples in a way Alec said made him look ‘cute’, he caught Stiles’ eye and sidled up to his friend as casually as possible, smiling softly at the younger man.

“Thank you,” he murmured, rolling his eyes when Stiles saluted him seriously, breaking the moment with an exaggerated wink.

“Any time, buddy,” he said, pushing Andrew towards the front door. “Now go on, you have friends to make and a boyfriend to impress. Showing up late would be terrible form.”

“Have fun!” Alec called out from the couch, and Andrew took the time to smile at him gratefully before leaving the house.

His friends were right; everything was going to be fine.

* * *

His little mantra of _everything was going to be fine_ lasted for a total of thirty minutes.

Andrew reached the old house Lorenzo had claimed as his own before any of his friends, greeted his boyfriend with a kiss on the cheek and plenty of longing glances, and started cooking dinner as they had been doing every time they had stayed in for a date. It was familiar and perfect, and it did wonders for Andrew’s remaining anxiety.

“Thank you for doing this,” Lorenzo murmured into his neck as they cuddled on the couch, waiting for his friends to show up. “I know you were nervous about meeting my friends, but I promise they’re going to love you. They’ve all been telling me to start dating again for years, and I know they’re all just happy I finally have someone.”

“Mmm,” Andrew hummed contentedly, a lot more willing to believe his boyfriend than his friends. “What about them? Do they have any significant others? Or should I avoid that topic completely?”

“Jackson and Simon are dating each other, so I’m sure their relationship will be rubbed in our face all evening,” Lorenzo chuckled, making Andrew’s brain short-circuit.

Stiles had _known_. Andrew wasn’t sure how his friend had made the connection between Lorenzo and a man he had only met once, but he had, and he had been subtly trying to give Andrew a few tips about how to impress Lorenzo’s friends. Honestly, he wasn’t sure whether he was thankful or pissed that Stiles hadn’t just told him who Simon was.

“Are you alright?” Lorenzo interrupted his thoughts, caressing Andrew’s cheek gently and staring at him concernedly. “Have you met them before?”

“Oh no, no,” Andrew shook his head. “Absolutely not; I wouldn’t be half as nervous if I had already met two of your three friends. Stiles ran into Simon yesterday though, and they seem to have hit it off immediately. Said something about Jackson and him being complete opposites.”

“In some ways, I suppose,” Lorenzo shrugged. “But they have a lot more in common than people give them credit for. They’re remarkably smart, for one, even though Jackson likes to hide his knowledge behind layers and layers of false self-confidence. And they’re also incredibly loyal to each other; if I had to vote on a single couple that would remain together forever, it would be them.”

“And your third friend? A woman, right?” Andrew frowned, trying to remember if his boyfriend had ever mentioned her by name.

“Allison,” Lorenzo answered instantly, his gaze turning even fonder than it had when he had been talking about Jackson and Simon. “My best friend. We met when she first moved here as a 15-year-old and we’ve been inseparable ever since. I don’t think she’s currently seeing anyone, but she’s always been a bit of a free spirit, so I doubt she’ll ever settle down.”

“She sounds great,” Andrew grinned.

Before either of them could say anything else, someone knocked loudly at the door, bursting in before Lorenzo could stand up to greet them.

Andrew had never met these people before, but it was all too easy to guess which man was Simon and which one was Jackson based on their looks and the brief description Stiles had given him earlier. Simon was slightly taller, his hair a little bit longer and hanging in front of his eyes, glasses falling off his nose and a wide smile on his face. Jackson, on the other hand, was all defined muscles and sharp edges, silky-looking hair, and narrowed eyes directed straight at Andrew.

They made for an odd pair, but Andrew could see the way they fit together, their hands interlaced and their bodies angled towards one another as though gravity was keeping them linked to each other.

“We’re here!” Simon exclaimed, beaming at his friend and laughing loudly when Lorenzo rolled his eyes at them.

“I can see that,” the man drawled. “You do realise that the point of knocking is to wait for someone to open the door, right? For all you know, Andrew and I could have been having wild sex in the living room.”

“You haven’t even kissed him yet, Rey,” Jackson retorted, raising his eyebrows. “So I’m pretty sure you haven’t moved on to the wild sex quite yet. Besides, this house doesn’t belong to you; you should count yourself lucky that we bothered to knock at all.”

“You wouldn’t have if you had been alone,” Lorenzo pointed out, and Jackson only shrugged unrepentantly.

“Of course he wouldn’t have, he’s a dick,” a feminine voice chimed in just as the woman whom Andrew assumed was Allison strode into the room and threw her arms around Jackson and Simon’s shoulders. “Hello, boys.”

“Allison,” Lorenzo smiled softly, standing up and not even flinching when the woman barrelled into him, holding onto him tightly for a few long seconds. “It’s good to see you again. It’s been far too long.”

“Eight months, Lorenzo! Never do that to me again! I don’t care how important your job is, you promised me we would see each other at least once every six months,” Allison pouted, hitting her friend lightly on the shoulder before turning to look at Andrew with calculating eyes. “And you must be the boyfriend we’ve heard so much about.”

“Andrew Underhill,” he hurried to introduce himself, extending a hand towards Allison and gripping her fingers tightly when she tried to crush his. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“I’m sure you are,” the woman smiled ferally. Andrew had been feeling slightly more confident once he had realised one of Lorenzo’s friend was none other than the Simon Stiles had met the day before, but he was starting to think that the real threat was Allison.

“Now, do you have food or not?” Jackson grumbled, his eyes flickering towards the kitchen and his nose sniffing for any hint of what Lorenzo and Andrew had made for dinner. “Because we were promised games, but I can’t win on an empty stomach, so…”

“We made that pasta dish the Martins used to make us when we were younger,” Lorenzo’s smile widened when his friends all made varying excited sounds, obviously eager to enjoy a dish from their childhood. Andrew tried not to feel left out, since he had been the one to prepare the meal, but he still felt a little bit awkward when Lorenzo and his friends started laughing about stories he had never been told and sharing little snippets from their youth that made Andrew feel like he was lacking the proper context.

Overall, dinner was both completely normal and painfully awkward. It was clear to Andrew that the others were having a wonderful time; they caught up with each other and laughed together and acted like the best friends Andrew assumed they had always been. He, on the other hand, was having a hard time fitting in. He was there, and Lorenzo’s friends would occasionally ask him questions, but he felt like he was a world away from the rest of them.

He couldn’t keep up with their conversations and inside jokes, couldn’t bring anything to the discussion because he was painfully aware of how different his life was from theirs, and he was pretty sure the only thing keeping him sane was Lorenzo’s hand on his knee.

Still, he supposed the dinner gave him the perfect opportunity to find out more about his boyfriend’s loved ones. He found out that Jackson was a social worker and absolutely adored his job, even though he had only recently gotten better at it. He learned that Allison was a firefighter in the South-West of England and had recently broken up with her short-term boyfriend. He heard all about their favourite things to do, their best stories from when they were younger, and now knew more about Jackson and Simon’s sex life than he did his close friends’.

“And of course, there’s the fact that Jackson always cheats at Clue,” Allison was saying when Andrew tuned back into the conversation.

The table had been cleared of dishes and leftovers alike, which Andrew took to mean they were about to move onto the second part of the evening. If anyone had asked him a few hours earlier, he would have said that the game part of game night was what he was most looking forward to, but now he wasn’t so sure.

The quartet sat down in clearly predefined places, leaving him to sit awkwardly at the end of the table, and they chose their Clue characters without asking him about his preferences. He didn’t mind too much, but it was once again obvious that he was the outsider in a group of people who had spent their entire lives in each other’s company.

It wasn’t until they switched to charades that Lorenzo and his friends finally caught onto the fact that they had been accidentally casting Andrew aside. As they divided themselves into pairs without even thinking about him, Lorenzo sent him a horrified glance and immediately hurried to his side.

They had switched to the living room in between Clue and Risk, which meant Andrew had found himself sitting alone in an armchair whilst Jackson and Simon took the loveseat, with Allison and Lorenzo sprawled out on the sofa together. Now though, Lorenzo was kneeling in front of Andrew with the most apologetic look Andrew had ever seen in his life.

“I’m so sorry,” he murmured quietly enough to keep their interaction semi-private. His friends had kindly looked away from them, settling into their own whispered conversation on their side of the living area. “We’re so used to having these nights between the four of us that we forgot to include you. I promise I didn’t forget about you, because I really want you to like them and get along with them, it’s just…”

“Strange having someone else around?” Andrew completed for him, smiling warmly when Lorenzo nodded sheepishly. “It’s not a problem. I mean, I’m not going to lie and say I wasn’t starting to feel a little left out, but it’s really okay. I don’t even have to join in if you’d rather keep the teams even.”

“Oh, screw that!” Allison exclaimed, grinning at them and shrugging when Lorenzo sent her a _look_ , clearly unimpressed by her eavesdropping. “Seriously, Jackson and Simon always win when we play charades, and I doubt a third player on our team is going to change that, so we might as well try.”

Lorenzo shot his best friend a grateful smile, and Andrew tried his best to look like he was grinning – even though he could tell it was more of a grimace than anything – and less than five minutes later, the entire group had dissolved into chaos and laughter as they tried to decipher each other’s mimes.

Andrew was glad to notice that, even though he didn’t understand every single inside joke the others made, he wasn’t the only one. Lorenzo had clearly missed out on a lot whilst he was away, but the two of them shared secrets that Lorenzo’s friends didn’t know about. Jackson and Simon communicated more smoothly than any couple Andrew had ever met, and Allison seemingly knew all of her friends better than they themselves.

By the end of the game, Andrew was snickering along with the rest of the group, making fun of Lorenzo’s terrible miming skills and wondering how on earth his charming boyfriend could be so bad at a game like _charades_.

“I’ll have you know that I’m a wonderful actor,” Lorenzo grumbled as Simon re-enacted his attempt at making Allison and Andrew guess the word ‘lizard’. He had ended up on the floor, crawling and slithering and generally making a fool of himself, but it had still taken Andrew more than half their turn to guess correctly.

“I’m sure you are, Ren,” Andrew laughed softly, pressing a kiss to his boyfriend’s temple. “But acting and miming are two very different things, and I think I’m starting to understand why Jackson and Simon win this game every single time.”

“Your man has a point, Rey,” Allison grinned. “I might just have to start playing with him, because at least I don’t feel like I’m trying to read Chinese when he’s the one making me guess.”

“You wound me, Argent,” Lorenzo brought his hands up to his heart, closing his eyes as though her words had caused him physical pain. “And here I was thinking we would be the unbreakable duo forever and ever. But no, all I have to do is bring a beautiful boy with expressive eyes and good miming skills, and you’re ready to throw our friendship away like it isn’t worth a cent.”

“Such a drama queen,” Jackson rolled his eyes.

“You’re one to talk,” Simon snorted, poking his boyfriend in the ribs. “You went on a whole spiel about how I didn’t love you anymore when I forgot to make your favourite sandwich one morning, even though you _knew_ I had been out all night the day before.”

“It’s your fault for getting me used to your heavenly sandwiches,” Jackson huffed, gladly accepting the kiss Simon gave him as a reward for complimenting his culinary skills.

“If you’re going to make out, at least go to the kitchen or something,” Allison scrunched her nose up in disgust. “I personally didn’t sign up for this horrible display of public affection, so if you could just…”

The two men scampered away without complaint, smiling dopily at each other and stumbling as they tried to grasp onto each other’s _everything_ as they walked. Andrew could understand why Allison might not want to see two of her closest friends make out, but he thought the two of them were rather sweet. Although they certainly didn’t make him feel any better about the fact that he hadn’t kissed Lorenzo yet.

Allison, bless her heart, clearly agreed with him. She glanced between the two of them for a long moment, narrowing her eyes at Lorenzo and waiting until he gulped nervously before nodding and backing out of the room, towards the front door.

“You two should figure your shit out,” she said seriously. “If Lorenzo doesn’t text me about an amazing first kiss by the end of the night, I will kick both of your asses the next time I see you.”

And with that she was gone, leaving Lorenzo and Andrew alone, sitting knee-to-knee and side-to-side. There was a moment of awkwardness, just a second when neither of them moved, unsure of what they were supposed to do.

However, Andrew had had enough of the waiting. He had been with Lorenzo for almost a month, and he was more than ready to kiss the man. He could understand taking things slowly, but this was on a whole other level of patience, and he wasn’t quite there yet.

When his lips finally touched Lorenzo’s, Andrew forgot all about how long it had taken them to get there. Kissing Lorenzo was everything he had hoped it would be; it was sweet and slow and sensual, and Lorenzo tasted like the lemon cake they’d had for dinner, and Andrew forgot how to _breathe_.

They kissed for minutes on end, only stopping to pant harshly against each other’s mouths before diving right back in for more. It felt a little bit like drowning and flying and all the things Andrew had forgotten he could feel with a touch as simple as a kiss.

Of course, there was one downside to having his first kiss with Lorenzo before game night was truly over, namely-

“ _Now_ who’s giving us unwanted displays of affection?!” Simon cried out loudly, covering Jackson’s eyes with his hands and shuffling them out of the house as quickly as he could. “Be safe, boys!”

Silence reigned for a handful of seconds, and then Andrew was dissolving into a fit of giggles and Lorenzo was laughing alongside him, tears streaming down their faces as they slumped against each other and let their bodies melt together like it was the most natural thing in the world.

It had taken them a month to get there, but Andrew didn’t think their first kiss could have gone any better. And now that he had had one…

Well, he was more than ready to get a hundred or so more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya guys! Thank you so much for reading! After Alec got to spend some time with Madzie (and Catarina) in the last chapter, I thought it would only be fitting for Andrew to spend time with Lorenzo's friends! They didn't feature as heavily as I thought they would (mostly because I got carried away with the Andrew/Alec/Stiles friendship again, my apologies) but I still loved writing Simon, Jackson and Allison into this fic. We're getting closer and closer to the end, so I hope you enjoy these last few chapters!
> 
> Love, Junie.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Finally._

“Ready for your big date with Derek?”

Stiles glared mutinously at his best friend as Alec smirked at him from the sofa, looking the younger man up and down a few times and raising his eyebrows at Stiles’ outfit choice.

“What? What’s wrong with what I’m wearing? Why are you staring at me like that?” Stiles sighed. “And it’s not a date.”

“Right, no, of course it isn’t,” Andrew interjected with an amused smile. “Because for some reason, you guys decided to go out together for the first time at a _bachelorette party_. Seriously, I’m not sure there’s anything less romantic than a night out with the girls. And your outfit is fine, just a little riskier than what you’d usually wear.”

“I’m admiring the goods whilst you’re still single, Stilinski,” Alec winked suggestively, earning himself a sandal in the head. “That was completely uncalled for!”

“Your comment was completely uncalled for,” Stiles retorted. “And for the hundredth time; Derek and I aren’t dating, we aren’t together, and we’re not going out romantically. He just thought I might enjoy an evening at the beach, and he wasn’t wrong. Now, excuse me, but I have friends to make and alcohol to ingest.”

“I still can’t believe you got invited and we didn’t,” Andrew pouted. “I thought Maia liked us, yet she didn’t even think about asking us to come along. Now she’s going to be stuck with _Stiles_ , of all people, and I wouldn’t be surprised if you freaked her out enough to make her break up with Lydia.”

“Oh my god, that happened one time, Andrew! One time! And you weren’t even there, so how do you- Alec!” Stiles exclaimed, pointing at his best friend accusingly and throwing his hands in the air when both of his friends burst out laughing, all but falling off the couch in their frenzy. “Alright, fine, you guys have fun with your wine and whatever salad Andrew has decided to make tonight. In the meantime, I’m going to enjoy a proper British party.”

“Stay safe!” Alec called out right before Stiles shut the door, Andrew snickering loudly beside him.

In their defence, they had both already had at least two glasses of wine, and Stiles knew they weren’t the best with alcohol. He should have left through the back door to avoid their comments; now he was going to spend the entire night worrying about his outfit and wondering if he should have gone with something a little more casual.

Before he could get himself too worked up and decide to run back into the house for a quick change, a sleek sports car pulled into the house’s driveway. A car that was distinctly _not_ Derek’s – and Stiles would know, since he had waxed poetic about that car for hours the first time he had seen it. And since the car wasn’t Derek’s, there was a good chance that the driver…

A beautiful blonde girl stepped out of the car, smiling at Stiles in a decidedly predatory manner, and the brunet almost turned around right there and then. She was one of the women on Derek’s lock screen, so Stiles knew she was there for him, but god he didn’t want to get into a car with her. She looked like she could eat him up if that was what she wanted to do.

“Hey, Stilinski!” She yelled. “Get your ass over here so we can get this party started! The others are already ahead of us, and I want to have at least a small chance of catching up to them. Girls for the win!”

Two matching cheers rung out from inside the woman’s car, and Stiles gulped nervously before steeling himself and marching towards the red Porsche as steadily as he could manage.

For a moment, he had hoped that one of the other women he had heard would be sitting in the passenger seat, thus keeping him at a safe distance from the dangerous looking blonde, but luck clearly wasn’t on his side that night. He shifted in his seat as the three women turned to look at him, and Stiles almost audibly sighed of relief when he recognised Maia sitting behind him.

“Maia!” He grinned. “Hey, fancy seeing you here! I thought you’d already be at the venue by now, well on your way to getting plastered.”

“I needed my girl time,” the brunette shrugged, and Stiles barely refrained from pointing out that he was not, in fact, a girl. He had a feeling such a statement wouldn’t grant him any favours. “Derek took off with Isaac and Boyd, so we thought we’d pick you up along the way. This is Helen Blackthorn, by the way.”

“Pleasure to meet you, Stiles,” the second blonde girl grinned. She looked a lot kinder than the driver – whom Stiles assumed was the infamous Erica Derek had told him about – but he knew better than to be fooled by appearances. “Our mutual friend has told us _all_ about you. He’s really happy that you decided to come along with us tonight, you know?”

“He is?” Stiles squeaked, blushing furiously as Erica snorted. “I mean, yeah, I’m really happy that I decided to come along as well. What’s the plan, exactly? Derek mentioned something about the beach, so I’m assuming we’re headed south, but he didn’t say much else.”

“That’s because he wasn’t in on the planning,” Maia huffed haughtily. “This is a bachelorette’s party, which means my lovely girls Erica and Helen organised everything. We invited the boys because we _do_ like them quite a bit, but they’re not the ones who matter tonight. This evening is all about us, baby!”

Once again, Stiles had to bite back a reminder that he was _not_ a woman and had not, in fact, had any prior experiences with bachelorette parties. Or at least, not much experience. He had enough female friends to know what to expect, but the only thing that really stood out to him was the excessive consumption of alcohol, which was honestly half of the reason why he had accepted Derek’s invitation.

(The other half being his attraction to the man himself.)

“So, Stiles, Maia and Derek tell us that you’re an FBI agent?” Helen raised her eyebrows at him, looking faintly impressed. “Sounds like one hell of a job, especially for someone as young as you. Speaking of which… How old are you, exactly?”

Stiles coughed to hide his laughter at the particularly unsubtle question but didn’t see any harm in answering.

“I’m 24, a little ahead of my classmates but still old enough to be a senior special agent,” he replied honestly. “Why do you ask? Is there an age limit where we’re going? Or is this completely unrelated?”

“Well, Derek’s 26, and you look a lot younger than you are, so we just needed to make sure everything’s… legal,” Maia gestured incomprehensibly as she spoke, but Stiles got the gist of what she was trying to say.

“Are you guys setting me up with your friend?” He asked, frowning slightly at the thought. He knew Derek and he had some sort of tension between them, and he certainly wasn’t opposed to starting something with the other man, but he wasn’t sure he was completely comfortable with other people getting involved. It was one of the reasons why he had tried to keep Andrew and Alec away from Derek. “Because no offence, but I can take care of myself.”

“Oh, I’m sure you can,” Erica purred, sending him an appreciative look. “But we’re here to take care of Derek. He hasn’t had the best luck with relationships in the past, so we thought we’d make sure you weren’t like the others.”

“So that’s why you picked me up,” Stiles chuckled lowly. He should have known he would be dealing with an interrogation; he had been on the other side of this exact scenario enough times to know what a concerned and slightly overprotective group of friends looked like. “I’m sorry to say you’re probably going to find me annoyingly boring. My best traits are also my biggest flaws, and there’s a good chance I’m going to ruin all my chances with your brother and friend tonight anyways, so don’t hold your breaths.”

“Why would you ruin things with him?” Helen asked, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion. “I mean, we’re not supposed to say anything, but Derek is clearly into you, and I don’t see what you could possibly do that would make him _not_ want to date you. Or at least sleep with you.”

“Maia, did you let Helen drink already?” Erica groaned, glancing in the rear view mirror and shaking her head disappointedly at her friends. “Seriously, you know how she gets when she doesn’t have any food to go with her drinks. If you want this party to be a blast, you’re going to need your bridesmaids in top shape, and no offence to you, Helen, but you do _not_ look great.”

“That’s a lie,” Maia immediately soothed her friend. “You look great. You look absolutely stunning, and we’re going to have an amazing time celebrating my last few days as an unmarried woman together. And if all goes well, we’ll also be celebrating the end of Derek’s dry spell.”

Stiles groaned and buried his face in his hands to hide his growing blush. He shouldn’t have been hearing all of this. He should have been in a car with Derek and the other boys, discussing trivial things and complaining about how much trouble the girls were going to be once they got a few drinks in them. Not that Stiles had a thing against women; he thought they were _great_ to hang out with.

He just really didn’t want them getting involved in his love life.

“We should go back to playing 20 questions à la Stiles,” he grumbled, his lips twitching into a small smile when Erica laughed and patted his shoulder absent-mindedly.

“They mean well,” she told him softly, tilting her head towards the two giggling girls. “And I really didn’t mean to pry into your relationship with Derek or imply that the two of you absolutely had to get together or anything. I just know he’s at least somewhat interested, and I have a feeling you don’t mind his company either.”

“I definitely don’t mind his company,” Stiles admitted shyly. “He’s… A little bit surly at first, but also thoughtful and kind and all types of things that make me want to be his friend, if nothing else.”

Erica sent him a knowing look, and Stiles tried his hardest not to think about all the things that made Derek the perfect man. He tried not to think about the time Derek had taken him home when Stiles had gotten lost in town, or about the day they had spent together after they had run into each other out in the wilderness. He definitely didn’t think about the way Derek’s hands had felt when Stiles had fallen over and needed someone to take care of him.

Derek and he were tentative friends; nothing more, nothing less. Maybe something would happen, and maybe it wouldn’t; either way, Stiles was fine with it. Perhaps he would be _more_ fine with the first option, but it wasn’t exactly up to him, so he would take whatever he could get.

“Stop whispering over there!” Maia exclaimed, pouting at Stiles when he shot her an amused look. “It’s my bachelorette party, and I should be treated like a queen! Not that I’m not usually treated like a queen, because Lydia is literally the best fiancée in the world. She knows me so well, and she loves me so much, and she’s so _perfect_.”

“You know, I have a feeling Helen isn’t the only one with a few drinks in her system,” Stiles smirked in Erica’s direction, chuckling when the blonde muttered something about irresponsible friends under her breath. “Hey Maia, I forgot to ask, but how long have you and Lydia been together?”

“Technically… Ten years?” Maia frowned. “But we weren’t allowed to date when I still lived with the Martins, so we got together when I turned 18. I’ve loved her _forever_ , though. Lydia is the prettiest woman in the world, and I couldn’t be luckier if I tried.”

“I don’t doubt it,” Stiles said placatingly, turning back towards the road and smiling brightly when he realised they could properly see the sea by then. “God, I love the beach. I’ve never been to one at night just for fun, but I know they tend to be even more beautiful.”

“You’ve been to a beach at night _not_ for fun?” Erica whistled disbelievingly. “Your job sounds like a wild ride, Stilinski. I hope we get to talk about more in the future, when I’m not dealing with two drunk best friends who forgot the meaning of the word restraint, and you’re not trying to get into my other best friend’s trousers. And don’t you dare deny it, because I noticed the way you went all heart-eyes on me when I mentioned him earlier.”

“Oh come on, have you _seen_ him?” Stiles whined. “The guy looks like he was sculpted by the gods themselves. And you’re telling me that, on top of that, he has an amazing personality and a great group of friends? How am I supposed to resist?”

“You’re not!” Helen cried out from the backseat. “Don’t resist love, Stilinski!”

“Oh my god, are they even going to make it through the night?” Stiles murmured, vaguely horrified at how tipsy the girls already seemed. “I thought the point of bachelorette parties was to get drunk _at_ the venue, not before you even got there.”

“That’s exactly the point,” Erica nodded sagely. “But Maia and Helen have never been a fan of the rules, so I was expecting something like this to happen. Isaac probably won’t be any better than them by the time we arrive. Derek and I are the only ones who have to stay sober, so everyone else is taking advantage of a night out drinking with the whole crew.”

“Do you guys see each other often?” Stiles asked as they drove into the city – Hastings, he thought – that Maia had selected for her party. “I mean, I know Derek is a little far away, but what about the rest of you?”

“I see Maia often enough,” Erica shrugged. “I come back into town once in a while, since I have a semi-permanent relationship with someone there, and I always make time for her. Isaac and Boyd are roommates, so they spend plenty of time together in London, and I see them at least once a week, since I’m close enough to them. Helen lives a little bit too far to see us quite as often, but we manage. And Derek tries to all of us at least once when he flies back to England.”

“That’s nice,” Stiles hummed, perking up as Erica pulled into a parking lot and took a free spot right next to a very familiar black Camaro. “I wish I were still that close with my childhood friends.”

“It doesn’t really matter at the end of the day,” Erica scoffed. “Whether your best friends are the same ones you’ve had all your life, people you met in college, or recent colleagues. It’s not about how long you’ve known them for; it’s about how much you care about them, and how much they care about you in return.”

“Woah Erica,” Maia grinned dopily, swinging her arm around the blonde’s shoulders as they all tumbled out of the car. “You say the deepest things sometimes. And just so you know, I care a lot about you.”

“Yes, Maia, I know,” Erica said fondly, brushing a stray strand of hair out of Maia’s eyes. “Now come on, let’s go in. The boys are probably already waiting for us, and you two desperately need something to eat, or at least a glass of fresh water. And once we have that sorted, we can get down to the _real_ business.”

“Woo!” Helen cheered, all but climbing on top of Stiles’ back. “We’re getting married, bitches!”

“Let’s get this party started!” Maia added, racing into the beachside bar with enough enthusiasm to almost topple Erica over. Thankfully, the blonde managed to steady the both of them before they could faceplant, although she took the time to send an exasperated look in Stiles’ direction.

“Come on, Stilinski,” she grinned. “Let’s get you drunk and make sure Derek notices how scrumptious you look in those tight pants.”

Stiles would have liked to say he resisted the temptation, if even just for a little while, but the mere thought of seeing Derek again had him hurrying into the bar, completely ignoring Erica as she broke down into peels of laughter.

* * *

Somehow, Stiles managed to stay sober all through the night.

By the time midnight neared and the girls were busy mocking the male strippers – who apparently did absolutely _nothing_ for Maia and Erica – Stiles had only had one drink and was feeling content with his evening. Boyd and Isaac were busy discussing something with Helen, and Stiles was reluctant to interrupt them.

Besides, he hadn’t missed Erica’s pointed glances towards the beach, where a lone shadow could be seen standing in the shallow water. Derek looked beautiful in the moonlight, and Stiles had never claimed to be strong enough to resist the older man’s charms, especially not after an entire night spent admiring him from afar.

Breathing in deeply and telling himself that if things went wrong, Stiles would never have to see Derek again, the brunet stepped out of the bar and took his shoes off, smiling at the feeling of sand underneath his feet. It had been far too long since he had taken a beach day, and he would have to make sure he dragged Alec and Andrew to the ocean as soon as they got back to the States. His best friend could whine all the wanted to, Stiles _loved_ the sea.

“Not in the mood to party?” He asked softly as he sidled up next to Derek, shivering as the freezing water lapped up at his feet. In the midst of all the excitement and the heat of the bar, Stiles had forgotten they were in England, in _March_ , and the weather was bordering on unbearably cold. “Dude, how on earth are you standing in this?”

As if to emphasise his point, he stepped away from the water and glared at it as though it had personally offended him. Derek only stared at him, eyes glinting with amusement, and Stiles blushed under the attention.

“Seriously, I thought you’d be in there celebrating the end of your sister’s life as a bachelorette,” he said, cocking his head to the side curiously. “Is partying not your style?”

“Not really,” Derek shrugged. “I love everyone, of course, which is why I agreed to come in the first place, but I would much rather have been at home, reading a book or sleeping or doing something equally as boring. What about you? What are you doing out here?”

“They’re all too drunk to be entertaining right now,” Stiles explained. “And Erica is too busy with girl stuff to keep me company. Besides, I like spending time with you, so I thought it was as good a time as any.”

Alright, so he was clearly a _little_ tipsy, because he never made confessions like that unless he wasn’t entirely sober. He was the type of person who talked too much when things didn’t matter, and then forgot how to speak when it came to his feelings or the important parts of life, so this was out of the ordinary for him.

And if the slightly surprised look on Derek’s face was anything to go by, it was out of the ordinary for _him_ too.

“Sorry, I just mean-”

“I enjoy spending time with you too, Stiles,” Derek murmured, his voice almost drowned out by the sound of the waves in front of them. The wind had picked up at some point during the evening, and Stiles couldn’t help but wonder – once again – how on earth Derek had managed to stay outside for so long without freezing his fingers off.

“Good to know,” Stiles coughed, trying to hide his blush behind his hand and hoping the darkness did the rest of the job well enough for him. “Your friends are nice too, you know? I was a bit worried about Erica when she picked me up, but she’s a cool person. And I didn’t get to talk to the others as much, since they’re all… well, not completely aware of what they’re doing right now, but they seem like a good group.”

“They are,” Derek agreed easily, smiling softly as he glanced back towards the bar. “I’m glad they could all make it here for the wedding. I try to come here as often as I can, but the flight from San Francisco isn’t exactly cheap, and I’m certainly not drowning in money.”

“I feel you,” Stiles sighed, plopping himself down on the ground and wincing slightly as humidity seeped through his pants. “The FBI pays us pretty decently, but I still don’t get enough to visit my dad semi-regularly, and he’s only on the other side of the country. I can’t imagine how expensive an international flight like this has to cost.”

“A whole kidney or two,” Derek deadpanned, surprising a giggle out of Stiles, who immediately slapped his hands over his mouth, blushing an even brighter shade of red. “You don’t have to do that, you know.”

“Do what?” Stiles frowned, lowering his hands and gazing questioningly at the other man. “Laugh? Because I swear I wasn’t doing it out of pity. I mean, the joke wasn’t exactly original or anything, but I promise you the laugh was genuine.”

“I’m sure it was,” Derek said, sounding almost… sheepish? “I meant you don’t have to, you know- Hide.”

He gestured at Stiles’ hands as he spoke, and it occurred to the brunet that Derek was telling him he didn’t have to suppress his stupid little giggles on his account. It shouldn’t have been so endearing to him, but goddamnit, Stiles was a weak man of simple pleasures. If a man complimented his laugh and told him he didn’t have to try and hold it back, he would inevitably fall a little bit in love.

And given the fact that he was already on a slippery slope when it came to Derek Hale, he couldn’t say his next words surprised him all that much, no matter how much he wished he could take them back.

“Was this your attempt at asking me out?” He blurted out, forcing himself to keep going before Derek could interrupt him and ruin his perfect little fantasy. “I mean, I didn’t think it was, because this is a _bachelorette party_ , but Alec and Andrew seemed to think you were interested, and so did Erica, and now… I guess I just wanted confirmation.”

“Yes, Stiles,” Derek sighed wearily, looking at the younger man as though he were truly an idiot. “This was my attempt at asking you out. I realise now that I should have been a little clearer, especially since you spent the first half of your holidays here thinking I liked Alec more than I did you, but I didn’t, so this is what you get.”

“Oh,” Stiles whispered, staring out at the sea and wondering how he was supposed to tell Derek that he was flattered and definitely wanted to go on dates with him, but also wasn’t sure that he wanted _this_ to be their first date.

“If you’re not interested and would rather stay friends, I completely understand,” Derek continued, and he sounded so sincere, like he truly _would_ understand if Stiles decided to turn him down, that Stiles couldn’t hold himself back any longer.

“I really, really don’t want us to be just friends,” he said rapidly, probably a bit too loud for comfort considering how close they were to each other. “You are by far the most handsome man I have ever met, and I’ve been attracted to you from the very beginning. And on top of that, because the world is apparently your freaking oyster, you’re smart and caring and funny when you don’t try too hard, and I really want to go out with you. I just- I don’t want this to be our first date, because I spent most of my time with a group of drunk girls instead of with you.”

“But you want to go out with me,” Derek repeated slowly, sounding more than a little incredulous, as though _Stiles_ was the catch and Derek would be lucky to have him. “Even though I asked you out to a bachelorette party.”

“Yes, Derek, I do,” Stiles rolled his eyes, knocking his shoulder against Derek’s. “It’s not like we haven’t been hanging out plenty back in Hawkhurst. I think a part of me was just waiting for you to make a move, and then I completely missed the moment when you did.”

Although, in his defence… A bachelorette party? Even Alec had seemed a little confused when Stiles had first told him about his plans for the evening. It was one thing to go out with friends or on a double date, but it was another to have a first date at an event celebrating someone else.

“We could go out for coffee tomorrow,” he added when Derek stayed silent. “I hear there’s a café in town that’s pretty nice, and I have under good authority that they make the _best_ pastries within a twenty mile radius of Hawkhurst.”

“Hmm,” Derek said, a small smirk curling at his lips as he tapped his chin thoughtfully. “I don’t know, coffee seems a little basic after the wild evening we just spent together?”

“Oh, yeah, wild is definitely the word I’d use to describe tonight,” Stiles snorted. “Your rendition of ‘Can you feel the love tonight?’ with Isaac was particularly entertaining and intense, although the round of shots neither of us participated in was a close second.”

“And you’re forgetting about Maia streaking through the sea,” Derek pointed out, waving vaguely in the water’s direction. “She’s going to be sick tomorrow, and Lydia is never going to let us hear the end of it.”

“They really love each other, don’t they?” Stiles said softly, thinking about the two fiery women who could have torn each other to pieces but had instead fallen in love. “I mean, obviously, since they’re getting married, but I feel like what they have goes even further than that.”

“That’s because it does,” Derek murmured, angling his body towards Stiles and meeting his gaze seriously. “Remember, when Maia and Lydia first met, everyone expected them to grow up as sisters. Instead, they took the familial bonds between them and added romance to them. And what is marriage if not a mixture of family and love?”

“Do you always get this deep late at night?” Stiles asked, trying to wrap his head around how beautiful what Derek had just said was.

“Only when I’m near the ocean,” the older man said, immediately dispelling the peaceful and romantic atmosphere that had settled over them. Stiles snorted loudly, then burst into a fit of giggles, unable to believe how fast Derek had changed his tune.

“What is _wrong_ with you?” He breathed out in between huffs of laughter. “How can you say something so serious one second, and then completely turn things around a moment later?”

“Life is too short to-”

“No! I don’t want to hear it!” Stiles shook his head wildly, slapping his hands over Derek’s mouth and gasping when the man licked a stripe up his palm, never looking away from Stiles. “ _Oh my god,_ are you even real? Where’s the Derek I’ve been talking to all this time? Are you actually his twin? Because I swear the man I’ve gotten to know isn’t this confident, or bold, or willing to make crappy jokes just to hear me laugh.”

“The Derek you got to know wasn’t sure whether or not his… feelings were reciprocated,” Derek raised an unimpressed eyebrows at Stiles’ rambling.

“Ah, there he is,” Stiles grinned. “Still unable to say a word like ‘feelings’ without being a little sick on the inside, am I right?”

“You’re ridiculous,” Derek chuckled. “You know, when I first met you, I thought you had just been acting strangely because we didn’t know each other, but no, that’s just really how you are. Not that I’m complaining at all, since I find it rather adorable, for reasons I have yet to comprehend.”

“I grow on people, dude, that’s just what I do,” Stiles winked at Derek. “I’m like weed, that way. Just you see, in a few months, you won’t even grimace when I call you ‘dude’ or ‘buddy’. Alec said it only took him three months in total, and now the words just go in one ear and out the other.”

“Is that _really_ necessary?” Derek winced. “I thought that was something you did with your friends, not with… whatever we are.”

“I do that with everyone,” Stiles beamed. “Even my dad, on occasion, even though I tend to avoid using them when he’s in a particularly bad mood. It never ends well when I do.”

“Well then, I guess I’ll have to get annoyed at you often enough that you’ll forget to use those ridiculous nicknames,” Derek said seriously. “Maybe if you’re scared of me, you’ll think twice before trying to provoke me.”

“First of all, you may be the least scary person I have ever met,” Stiles pointed out. “Seriously, you may have a tough exterior, but you stopped being intimidating in my eyes after the first time I saw you help a kid grab a box of unicorn cereal at the store. Secondly, nothing will ever make me think twice before provoking you. It’s a talent of mine; no matter how tense or awkward situation is, I will fill the silence up with chatter and provocative insults. You have no idea how many times it’s come in handy.”

“No, I really can’t,” Derek agreed. “Although I _can_ imagine how many times it’s gotten you into trouble.”

Stiles opened his mouth to disabuse Derek of that notion, but the man had a point. Stiles had always been a bit too loudmouthed and loose-tongued to avoid fair share of fights. He spoke too much and didn’t think about his words before talking, which had resulted in a great many things, including one unfortunate incident in Australia.

And another one in London. And the worst of all in Chicago, but Alec had been sworn to secrecy on that matter, and no one else in the world knew about the things he had done during their mission in Illinois.

“You may have a point,” he finally huffed. “But either way, I’ll call you whatever I want to call you.”

“And what if I want to call you mine?”

The line was delivered without a hitch, not a second’s hesitation, and Stiles almost forgot how to breathe right there and then. The first time he had met Derek, he had expected the man to be an incorrigible flirt. With a body and voice like his, Stiles had imagined that he had people _lining up_ for his attention.

And then he had turned out to be more of the shy and broody type, and Stiles had assumed that meant Derek just wanted a big fan of flirting in the traditional sense. He had thought the man was more of a tactile person who preferred speaking with actions rather than words. Now, though…

“That- I- I mean-” Stiles stammered, trying to remember how to speak and breathe and function properly. “Since when- Since when are you this smooth?”

“Maybe I always was,” Derek smirked. “Maybe I just didn’t want to flirt with you too much when I wasn’t sure whether you were interested. Maybe I was saving the best for when we had already agreed to something and I was less likely to scare you away. Or maybe I was just waiting for the right moment.”

“So you suddenly got brave?” Stiles said, his voice breaking as Derek’s eyes darkened and focused on his mouth when his tongue darted out to wet his lips.

“Something like that,” Derek hummed.

“Brave enough to talk, but not brave enough to kiss me?” Stiles added, his heart skipping a beat when Derek chuckled lowly, dangerously, and leaned forward to close the remaining distance between the two of them. “ _Derek_.”

The second syllable was swallowed by Derek himself as the older man curled one of his hands around Stiles’ neck and laced his free fingers with Stiles’. It had been a while since Stiles had kissed someone he liked as much as he liked Derek, but he instinctively let his left hand grip the front of the other man’s shirt as they kissed each other over and over again.

And to think, they could have been doing this for at least two weeks if one of them had pulled his head out of his ass a little earlier and worked up the courage to say something about his feelings. Really, Derek’s idea of a first date was extremely skewered, but it had gotten the job done.

“Just so we’re clear,” Stiles murmured in between kisses, when the two of them were breathing the same air and panting against each other’s mouths. “You’re taking me to the wedding, right?”

“Yes, Stiles,” Derek answered patiently. “I’m taking you to the wedding.”

“Perfect,” Stiles grinned, and dove right in for another kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya guys! Thank you so much for reading! I have been waiting for these two to figure it out ever since I started writing this fic, and they've finally done it. The next three chapters are going to be the wedding chapters (one for each of our boys), then an epilogue and it'll be completed! I hope you're all still enjoying this. 
> 
> Love, Junie.


	13. Chapter 13

“Well, would you look at us?”

Stiles waggled his eyebrows as the trio of men stood in front of their bathroom’s full-length mirror, dressed in perfectly tailored suits and wearing bright smiles on their faces.

Lydia and Maia’s wedding day had finally arrived, and they only had two hours left before the start of the ceremony. As groomsmen, their dates had all headed towards the wedding venue early, but Alec, Andrew, and Stiles hadn’t wanted to impede on their time with their sisters.

(And maybe they were trying to avoid a repeat of the dinner. _Maybe_.)

“I have to say, we clean up quite nicely,” Andrew grinned. “I thought Luke was just being his usual overthinking self when he asked us to bring suits on our vacation, but I suppose we’ll have to thank him for his foresight. We wouldn’t look half as nice in casual clothes.”

“And Magnus would probably have killed me for showing up in an inappropriate outfit,” Alec pointed out, straightening his shirt one last time before shrugging on his jacket. “Thank god we’re in England right now. Can you imagine how warm we would be if we had stayed in the States?”

“I would _not_ have worn this back in D.C.,” Stiles snorted. “And knowing Luke, he was probably hoping something like this would happen to us. Maybe not a wedding, but definitely something along those lines. I’m not saying he has supernatural abilities, but I’m not saying he doesn’t, if you know what I mean.”

“Yes, Stiles, we’ve been over this before,” Alec huffed. “And for the hundredth time; Luke is completely, absolutely, _utterly_ human. Just because he has good instincts doesn’t mean he’s a psychic.”

“Although that would be pretty cool,” Andrew hummer thoughtfully, raising his hands in surrender when Alec narrowed his eyes at him dangerously. One of the most important rules of being Stiles’ friend was that one should never – _ever_ – encourage his supernatural delusions. No matter how tempting it could be. “Fine, he’s not a psychic.”

“You guys take all the fun out of life,” Stiles rolled his eyes. “Now, if you’re just going to be your usual boring selves, how about we get out of here and head towards Hawkhurst’s event of the year. The boys will kill us if we’re late.”

“I think they’ll kill us if they learn that you’ve been calling them ‘the boys’,” Alec grimaced. “Derek really doesn’t seem like the type of person to like nicknames. No offence.”

“None taken,” Stiles shrugged. “Besides, you’re wrong. He doesn’t like to show it, but he secretly loves it when I use pet names around him.”

Alec raised his eyebrows disbelievingly, struggling to imagine Derek Hale – of all people – letting Stiles call him _baby_ , or _darling_ or anything of the sort. However, what would he know? He wasn’t the one dating him. He had barely gotten used to the idea of Stiles and Derek actually dating, seriously enough that Stiles was calling Derek his boyfriend.

He had known, of course, that the two of them had been interested in hooking up, but he hadn’t realised how many feelings were involved. When Stiles had come back from the bachelorette party with a story that screamed of romance, Alec had almost asked him if he was sure they were talking about the same guy.

However, as long as Derek kept Stiles happy, Alec wasn’t going to complain. In fact, if it meant that Stiles had a date to the wedding, he would even encourage their relationship. Anything to keep their little trio together for the duration of the event.

“You could look a little less scared, you know?” Andrew teased him as they walked out of the house, Stiles running inside to make sure they hadn’t forgotten anything before joining them outside. “It’s just a wedding; we don’t even have to do anything except listen and cheer for the brides once their marriage has been officiated.”

“Alec’s just worried he’s going to cry,” Stiles grinned, nudging Alec in the ribs affectionately as he passed by him and slunk into their car’s passenger seat, earning himself a disgruntled glare from Andrew. “Seriously, I definitely saw him cry when Greenberg got married, and that was _Greenberg_.”

“You went to Greenberg’s wedding?” Andrew asked from the backseat, scrunching his nose up in a mix of disgust and confusion. “Wait, Greenberg’s _married_? How on earth did a guy like that manage to find a serious partner before us? I mean, good for him, but seriously…”

“His wife is wonderful,” Stiles sighed, and Alec reluctantly nodded his agreement. The woman was crazy to have married someone like Greenberg, but she was undeniably quite nice. “But if it makes you feel any better, there is no way your wedding will be worse than theirs. They tried their best, and they probably still had an amazing day, but the guests were not having a great time. Except Alec, who apparently loves weddings no matter how bad they are.”

Alec opened his mouth to protest, but snapped it shut as he realised that his best friend had a point. His hopelessly romantic streak definitely extended to weddings, and he tended to avoid them as much as possible to spare himself the utter humiliation. It wasn’t like he was the only one crying during the ceremony, but Alec was incapable of keeping his tears in and inevitably ended up being mocked for the rest of the reception.

He had a feeling that attending a wedding with Magnus in the wedding party was just asking for even more trouble. It was one thing to watch his colleagues or acquaintances get married to people he didn’t really know. It was a whole other thing to actually care about the fiancées – Maia and Lydia were truly amazing women – and to have to watch his boyfriend walk down the aisle.

“Did you tell Magnus, at least? Is he prepared for this?” Stiles asked, snickering when Alec tightened his grip on the steering wheel and took a sharp left towards the park-turned-wedding venue Maia and Lydia had selected. “I’m just saying, it might have been a good idea to let him know you were going to break down crying halfway through the damned thing. What if it’s his biggest pet peeve or something?”

“Please don’t talk about people breaking up on a wedding day,” Andrew grimaced behind them, burying his head in his hands as though Alec and Stiles had just doomed the brides to a life of a loveless marriage.

“First of all, I didn’t say anything about breaking up,” Stiles pointed out. “Out of the three of us, I think Alec is the only one who hasn’t even questioned his relationship with Magnus since they started going out. But secondly, what kind of wedding superstitions do you have stored in that brain of yours? We’re allowed to talk about other people breaking up as long as the people aren’t the ones getting married.”

“Still, there’s no need to talk about break-ups,” Andrew said softly, almost sounding a little tense.

Alec would have said something about that, would have asked if everything was alright between Lorenzo and him, but Stiles shook his head minutely and shot Alec a pointed look. Clearly not the right time for an interrogation, then. He’d have to try and remember to talk about it with Andrew later, when they weren’t a few minutes away from a beautiful wedding.

“Well then, did you know that this is only the third wedding of the year in Hawkhurst?” Stiles asked, effortlessly breaking the tension that had settled over them by going on a rant about the number of weddings compared to births, so on and so forth.

As irritating as the younger man could be sometimes, Alec had to admit that Stiles was wonderful at diffusing awkward situations. By the time he got to the end of his explanation, the trio had reached their destination and were suddenly too busy staring at the venue to think about anything else.

The park was _beautiful_ , all lush green trees, long grass, and fields of colourful flowers. Alec wasn’t even ashamed to admit that his heart started racing at how romantic the place was. If he were to get married someday, he would want to do it in a similar venue, surrounded by nature and breathing in fresh air without having to worry about choking on the scent of sweat.

“I’m a little bit jealous right now,” Stiles breathed out as they walked towards the groups of mingling guests. “I mean, I already knew this wedding was going to be epic, but did they have to go so all out on _everything_? It makes me feel like I should be filming this and making a movie out of it.”

“It’s perfect for them,” Andrew agreed, staring at the flowers around them with awe written all over his face. “I can’t believe I didn’t stumble upon this place during my walks with Lorenzo. Do you think he was purposefully keeping me away so I would be pleasantly surprised today?”

“I think it’s just a little too far from his run-down house for him to have taken you here,” Alec deadpanned, rolling his eyes at Andrew’s over-exaggerated pout. “Besides, you got to see it now, didn’t you? Isn’t that enough for you?”

“I like the surprise effect,” Stiles smiled, running one of his hands through the grass before winking at his friends and disappearing into the crowd of people, probably on his way to find Derek.

Alec and Andrew shared a quick look before shrugging and splitting up, correctly assuming that Magnus and Lorenzo wouldn’t be anywhere near each other. They were even groomsmen for the same bride, since Lorenzo had outright refused to stand next to Magnus for any longer than two minutes. In the end, Magnus had stuck with Lydia and Lorenzo had joined Derek on Maia’s side.

Alec didn’t claim to understand what was going on with their family dynamics, but as long as it worked for them – and more importantly for Magnus – he wasn’t willing to question it. He had his fair share of sibling problems, and he knew Magnus would politely ignore them when the time came. The least he could do was return the favour.

“Alec!”

The man in question turned around and beamed as he spotted Catarina and Lydia, looking radiant in their dresses – pure white for Lydia, and a beautiful blue for Catarina. He had spent a fair amount of time with the pair over the past week, both with and without Magnus, and he was definitely planning on staying in touch with them even once he went back to the States.

“You look beautiful, girls,” he smiled as he greeted them. “Seriously, Maia is one lucky woman, and I’m sure Erica will agree with me when it comes to you, Cat. Where is she, by the way?”

“She’s dealing with Maia,” Lydia rolled her eyes. “I love her, I really do, but my fiancée needs to pull it together before the wedding or else I will _murder her_ for ruining our big day. We barely managed to get everyone here on time, and the caterer almost cancelled on us, and the last thing I need is for the second bride to run away after freaking out about the whole thing.”

“She’s not going to run away,” Alec said with utter certainty, winking at Catarina when she nodded in agreement, rubbing soothing circles on the small of Lydia’s back. “Maia loves you with her whole heart, and a little bit of anxiety isn’t going to stop her from marrying you. She wants this just as much as you do, and the ceremony is going to be perfect because it’s going to be _yours_.”

“You’re strangely good at this,” Lydia frowned, visibly calming down. “Why are you so good at this? I would have assumed that feeling-heavy conversations were more Stiles’ thing than yours.”

“Ah,” Alec blushed furiously. “Well, you’re mostly right, but I also have a bit of a- a romantic streak? Stiles likes to joke that I thrive around love-related events like weddings or Valentine’s day or anniversaries… It’s not always ideal, but I suppose it can come in handy?”

“I’m not going to argue with that,” Lydia snorted. “Magnus should be over there, by the way. I told him to handle my family, so I’m assuming he followed my orders and is currently having an amazing time dealing with my parents, uncles, aunts, and cousins. Good luck.”

“What-

The two women ushered him towards the large group of redheads and blonds before Alec could say anything else, and he gulped nervously before spotting his boyfriend and quickly making his way to him. As much as he liked weddings, he still _hated_ large groups of people, and this definitely counted as the beginning of a crowd.

“Alexander!” Magnus grinned, leaning in to kiss Alec’s cheek before gesturing towards the older couple in front of him. “These are our parents, Natalie and Thomas. Mum, dad, this is my boyfriend Alec Lightwood.”

“A pleasure to meet you,” Alec tried to smile, hoping the gesture didn’t look quite as nervous as it felt. He should have realised, really, that he would be meeting Magnus’ family at the wedding, but that tidbit of information had completely slipped his mind. “Your children have told me a lot about you. You raised them wonderfully.”

“That we did,” Natalie beamed proudly as she stared at Magnus. “They were always a bit of a handful, but I think we did a rather good job with them, all things considered.”

“Hey, we weren’t _that_ bad!” Magnus exclaimed, although his lips were curled into an easy smile as he stared at the people who had taken him in and raised him like one of their own. Sure, there were a few unfortunate incidents here and there, but it wasn’t as bad as you’re making it out to be.”

“Oh believe me, sweetheart, it _was_ ,” Thomas chuckled, ruffling his son’s hair fondly before turning towards Alec. “So Magnus tells us you work in D.C.? For the FBI? That’s quite the impressive feat.”

“Ah, thank you,” Alec said, shuffling his feet awkwardly. “It’s really not as big a deal as people make it out to be, even if it can be quite nice. Without our boss, we would have never been able to come here, and then I would never have met Magnus, which would have been a shame.”

“Truly tragic,” Magnus agreed seriously, smiling at Alec as the taller man pressed a gentle kiss to his temple. “But don’t let him undersell what he does for a living. I’ve caught a glimpse of the paperwork he has to fill in, and that stuff is no joke. I couldn’t keep up with that for a day, let alone as many years as Alec has worked there for.”

“Flatterer,” Alec muttered underneath his breath, shooting a fond but sheepish look at his boyfriend. “Magnus’ job is just as impressive, and I know I certainly couldn’t deal with college kids on a daily basis. Seriously, they can be lazy and incompetent and completely uninterested, and I know how frustrating that can be.”

“And how do _you_ know so much about college students?” Magnus chuckled, angling his body towards Alec without completely cutting his parents out of the conversation. “You attended the FBI Academy, didn’t you? That is absolutely nothing like college.”

“Oh, I know,” Alec huffed. “Believe me, I’m well aware that my higher education experience was nothing like yours or your students’. However, we used to get sent on a few undercover missions in colleges when they were training us, so I know how students behave, if not how they think.”

“You went undercover in colleges?” Magnus’ eyebrows flew up. “Wait, I might have been teaching law to undercover agents this entire time? Do you guys just… waltz into lecture halls and observe people? How does that even work?”

“We never really attended lectures,” Alec shrugged. “Mostly, they made us hang out around campus and asked us to blend in as best as possible. Then they’d send other trainees to try and spot us, so the exercise helped us develop both our observation skills and our undercover talents. It was actually one of the most entertaining parts of training, since it involved us getting out of the Academy.”

“I’m guessing Andrew and Stiles both excelled at that exercise, although not in the same way,” Magnus guessed, grinning proudly when Alec confirmed his theory with a hum. “Andrew and Stiles are the other Americans I was telling you about. Andrew has been dating Lorenzo since they first landed here, and Derek finally figured things out with Stiles last week. I think he did, at least.”

“Stiles certainly seems to think so,” Alec hummed. “He’s been happier in the past five days than I’ve ever seen him, and I can’t quite decide if that’s a good or a bad thing.”

“Well, if _Derek_ can make him happy, then I’m sure it’s a good thing,” Natalie laughed. “I love my boy, but he can be so thick when it comes to love, and I’m glad he’s finally opening himself up to people again. I don’t doubt that Derek is treating your friend with all the respect he deserves.”

“And here I thought you didn’t have a favourite,” Magnus huffed, narrowing his eyes at his mother. “Do you talk about all of us like this, or is it something you do just for your youngest baby? Because I promise you I’ve been just as gentlemanly and respectful towards Alec as Derek has towards Stiles. If not more, since I actually took him out on dates that didn’t involve bachelorette parties.”

“Don’t worry, son,” Thomas chuckled. “You’re still _my_ favourite, although you’d better not tell your siblings I said that. And I’m very happy for you, really. You seem like a very kind man, Alec, and I hope you know our son deserves to be taken care of properly.”

“I know,” Alec smiled shyly. “And I’m certainly trying my best, even though he can be a bit tough to understand sometimes. I’m still not sure I picked out the pocket square I needed to match his.”

“You didn’t,” Magnus sing-songed, glaring at the piece of fabric as though it had personally offended him. “But it’s alright. At least our suits match, for the most part. And we look way better than Andrew and Lorenzo, no offence to Andrew.”

“I think your opinion is slightly biased, Magnus,” Natalie rolled her eyes. “And don’t think I didn’t notice how you left Derek and his date out of this. Are you finally willing to admit that your little brother is just as good at dressing himself as you are?”

“Absolutely not,” Magnus scowled. “Just because he looks good in everything doesn’t mean he has a decent sense of style. However, since most of the wedding party is busy drooling over him, I won’t deny that he and Stiles may be just as dashing as Alec and I.”

“ _Dashing_ ,” Magnus’ father snorted. “Alright, well, I’ll leave you to deal with your mother whilst I make sure that Jack and Malia aren’t biting each other’s heads off. And please remember that the ceremony starts in an hour; Lydia can’t handle anything less than perfection today, so you’d better be by her side when the time comes.”

“Yes, dad,” Magnus grumbled. “I know how weddings work, and this isn’t my first ride as someone’s groomsman. Maybe you should check up on Lorenzo and make sure that _he_ isn’t going to mess things up for Maia. Believe me when I say she is just as – if not more – panicked than Lydia and will probably have a meltdown if Lorenzo doesn’t show up on time.”

“Will do!” Thomas called out, waving at Alec one last time before wandering off into the crowd, presumably to find either Lorenzo or the other family members he had been talking about.

“I know you’re probably dying to find your friends before the ceremony, but would you mind if I stole Alec away from you for a few minutes, sweetheart?” Natalie asked, smiling reassuringly at Alec as she shot Magnus a pleading look that seemed to instantly make him cave.

“Just don’t scare him away from me, alright?” The older man sighed, kissing his mother’s cheek. “I want him back within twenty minutes from now, and you’d better not have told him anything embarrassing. I really like Alexander, mum, and I don’t want you messing anything up.”

“Oh please,” Natalie scoffed, cuffing her son on the back of the head. “I’m your mother, Magnus, of course I’m not going to scare the man who makes you happy away. I just need to make sure everyone is on the same page here, and I can’t do that if you’re with us, hovering incessantly. Go find your sister and Catarina, and please check on Malia. I know your dad said he was going to do it, but I don’t trust that man to do things correctly.”

“Will do,” Magnus nodded, pressing a kiss to Alec’s lips before pulling away and grinning apologetically. “I’m sorry, but I promise the two of you will get along. Find me before the ceremony, alright? My mother isn’t the only one who wants to talk to you.”

Alec nodded silently, swallowing down his nerves and wondering if he was about to get the shovel talk from Magnus’ mother. Natalie seemed like a kind person, but she also seemed like someone who could murder him and get away with it, so he wasn’t holding his breath.

As soon as Magnus was out of sight, though, Natalie relaxed even further, looking Alec up and down a few times before humming somewhat approvingly. Clearly, she had found whatever she had been looking for.

“As much as I was joking about Derek not opening himself up easily to other people, I hope you know that Magnus has been the same way for a very long time,” she said after a few minutes of semi-uncomfortable silence. “He may be more outgoing and easy to talk to, but he hasn’t introduced me to anyone in _years_ , ever since he got his heart broken by- Anyways, it’s been a while since I got to meet one of his partners, and I want to make sure you’re as serious about this as he is.”

“I’m- Yeah,” Alec answered without hesitating. “Yeah, of course I am. I haven’t really opened myself up to anyone either because of similar circumstances to what Magnus seems to have gone through. And this… What we have, it’s far better than anything I’ve experienced in a very long time. Magnus and I _work_ in a way I can’t really explain, and I would be a fool to throw that away.”

“But you’re going back to the States in two days, aren’t you? And you don’t live in New York,” Natalie pointed out.

Alec knew that. He knew Magnus didn’t live in D.C. and he knew neither of them could afford to move quite yet, especially since their relationship was still so new. He knew all of that, but he couldn’t really find it in himself to care. Magnus could have stayed behind in England and Alec would have still wanted to be with him, long-distance and all.

“I am going back,” he answered, looking over at Magnus and finding him next to Lydia and Catarina, gesturing wildly with a bright smile playing at his lips. “And so is Magnus. I may not live in New York, but I’m ready to make the trip whenever I can if it means I get to see Magnus. And even if I’m in D.C. and he’s a few hours away, there’s nothing stopping us from calling each other, texting each other, and being together from afar.”

“So you’re ready to be with him even if you can’t see him every day,” Natalie said, tilting her head to the side curiously. “You’ve only known him for a month, and yet you’re willing to sacrifice your chance at a real relationship for a man who lives in another State.”

“I wouldn’t be sacrificing anything,” Alec said firmly, frowning at the mere thought of someone calling his relationship with Magnus ‘fake’. “I could have known Magnus for two days and I would have still been willing to try this, for him. And our relationship is just as true as any other relationship out there, whether we live three minutes or three days away from each other. I wouldn’t go as far as to say I love him quite yet, but I care about him more than I’ve ever cared about anyone. As long as he wants to stay with me, then I want to stay with him.”

He stood still and unflinching as Natalie considered him and his words. He wasn’t too worried, since he had been perfectly honest with her, but he still felt the beginnings of anxiety bubbling in his chest as she failed to say anything for almost two whole minutes.

“You’re a lucky man, Alec,” she finally murmured, glancing over at Magnus. “But he’s a lucky man too, to have found someone like you. I just hope you don’t forget what you just told me when things get hard and you start missing his presence. Don’t break his heart.”

“As long as he doesn’t break mine,” Alec breathed out, his eyes widening when Natalie pulled him into a tight hug. “But thank you. I’m glad you approve.”

“Any time, dear,” Magnus’ mother patted his shoulder warmly. “Now, go find my son before he hunts you down himself and yells at me for keeping you away. You have forty minutes until the wedding, so enjoy the peace while it lasts.”

Alec smiled at her gratefully before turning around and heading straight for Magnus, who immediately spotted him and broke away from his friends to come up to him.

“I’m taking you somewhere a little more private,” Magnus explained as he dragged Alec away from the rest of the guests and towards a shaded area hidden behind a tree. If Alec had been in charge of the wedding planning, he would have had the ceremony right there instead of in the sun. But in the meantime, it would make for a perfect conversation spot. “I know a wedding might not be considered the best place to talk about our relationship, but I just- I’m not sure if we’ll be able to see each other before you leave since my entire family is here, and I… We should talk about this, right?”

He sounded more uncertain than Alec had ever heard him, so the taller man didn’t even hesitate before leaning in and pressing their lips together for a lingering kiss. Just as he had planned, the tension melted out of Magnus’ body and was replaced by something softer, something more like the man Alec had grown to care about so much.

“Thank you,” Magnus murmured.

“Don’t worry about it,” Alec shrugged. “But yes, I agree with you. We should definitely talk about our relationship and going back to the States and all those lovely, anxiety-inducing things. For the record, though, I think weddings are the perfect place to have serious conversations, right after the safety of your own home. We don’t have that here, so the wedding is the next best thing.”

“Yeah, I have a feeling we won’t be the only ones having an interesting conversation here,” Magnus winced. “I don’t know about Stiles and Derek, but I’m pretty sure Andrew and Lorenzo are in for a bit of a ride later. Lorenzo has been in a foul mood all day, and Andrew looked awfully worried when I saw him earlier, and now I’m wondering if they’re alright even though I shouldn’t care about their relationship. I’m rambling, aren’t I?”

“You are,” Alec chuckled. “Although I think it’s more stalling than rambling, at this point. Look, I know you’re nervous about this, so how about I go first?”

“I’m not sure-”

“I want to be with you,” Alec cut him off, biting back the panic and fear that instinctively tried to crawl out of his throat as he spoke. “Whether we’re both in Hawkhurst and able to see each other every day or stuck in different cities with demanding jobs. I want to be with you even when I have to leave for another country and the only thing connecting us are our phones. I know we’ve only been together for a few weeks, and I know a long-distance relationship might not be what you’re looking for, but we can make it work. I’m sure we can make it work. New York and D.C. aren’t even that far from each other.”

A mouth covered his own before he could get any further than that. Magnus stole his breath away as he kissed him over and over again, smiling against his lips and wrapping his arms around Alec tightly.

“We can make it work,” he repeated, staring at Alec lovingly. “You’re right, I wasn’t looking for a long-distance relationship, but that’s mostly because I wasn’t looking for a relationship at all. I’d be an idiot to give up on you for such a small reason. I like you from up close, and I’m sure I’ll like you just as much from afar.”

“And if not, we can always call it off,” Alec pointed out. “This is just a relationship like every other relationship we’ve had, except hopefully a lot better. We’re boyfriends, Magnus, we can still back out if things get too tough. I don’t think they’ll get too tough for me, because I’ve never felt- I’ve never- You’re- Something between us is different, and I don’t think I’ll ever grow tired of it. But the option is always there.”

“You make a very valid point,” Magnus murmured against Alec’s lips. “So… We’re going to do this, right?”

“We are,” Alec grinned. “You invited me to a _wedding_ , Magnus, that is the best way to worm your way into my heart. Also, fair warning, I’m definitely going to cry during your sisters’ vows. And I’m also probably going to get drunk and be overly romantic all evening.”

“You’re a closet romantic?” Magnus’ eyebrows flew up. “ _You_ , Alexander Lightwood, love weddings enough to cry during them even though you barely know the brides? Honestly?”

“Absolutely,” Alec nodded, completely unashamed. “I’ve been that way since I was a child and it’s not about to change now, so you’d better get used to it. Especially if you want to be my date to my friend’s wedding in a few months.”

“A few months, huh?” Magnus smirked. “Someone’s feeling awfully confident.”

“Well, if I’m going to pay for flights between New York and D.C., then I’d better be with you for at least a few months,” Alec huffed. “Besides, I wasn’t kidding when I said there was something different between the two of us. If it was up to me, Magnus, I would never let you go.”

“Oh my god,” Magnus shook his head fondly. “You really _are_ a romantic. But if it makes you feel any better, I don’t intend on letting you go any time soon either. You’re quite special, Alexander.”

“And you’re about to be late to your sisters’ wedding,” Alec said amusedly, gesturing towards the group of people they had left behind. The brides had vanished and the guests were starting to take their seats, and Magnus wasn’t anywhere near Lydia. “We’ll have plenty of time to talk about our relationship and how great you are later. Go find your sister.”

Magnus didn’t need to be told twice. He pecked Alec’s lips quickly before running as fast as he could towards the wedding tents that had been set up for the day. Alec followed him at a far more leisurely pace, unable to wipe the smile off his face even as he took his seat between a smirking Stiles and a nervous-looking Andrew.

“Are you ready for this?” Stiles asked, bouncing a little in his seat. “Ready to cry your heart out, I mean?”

“I’m ready for a beautiful ceremony, yes,” Alec rolled his eyes. “And if I let out a few tears, then so be it. You can’t ruin my day now, Stilinski, I’m basically in paradise.”

“Of course you are,” Stiles rolled his eyes. “What about you, Andrew? Ready for this party to get started?”

“It’s a wedding ceremony, Stiles, not a birthday bash,” Andrew snorted. “But yes, I suppose I’m ready. Maia told me it was going to be absolutely epic, and I have to say I’m inclined to believe her, given who her bride is. I don’t doubt that the wedding will be perfect.”

“It’s going to be more than perfect,” Stiles beamed.

Then the music started, and the entire crowd went quiet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya guys! Thank you so much for reading! It took me a while to get started on this chapter, but there was wedding talk today and it got me back on track, so there you have it! First part of the trio of wedding chapters, and probably the fluffiest of all. I loved writing the Martin parents into this and will probably have them make at least another appearance in the last few chapters. I hope you all enjoyed this!
> 
> Love, Junie.

**Author's Note:**

> (find me on [tumblr](https://hopesilverheart.tumblr.com/))


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